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ADVENT SOURCE COLLECTS
Geiwa! CcP.»8'-'r^ a v wt>Zi< kin-
dissert ati osrr ,NGT °^
ON
THE PROPHECIES,
WHICH HAVE REMARKABLY BEEN FULFILLED,
AND AT
THIS TIME ARE FULFILLING IN THE WORLD.
BY THOMAS NEWTON, D.D.
LATE LORD BISHOP OP BRISTOL.
REVISED BY THE REV. TV. S. DOBSON, A.M.
EDITOR OP THE ATTIC GREEK ORATORS AND SOPHISTS, ETC.
P. A. THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY*
LONDON:
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY J. F. DOVE.
REPRINTED BY CRISSY & MARKLEY,
GOLDSMITH'S HALL, LIBRARY ST, PHILADELPHIA.
ADVENTIST
HERITAGE CENTER
James White Library
ANDREWS UNIVERSITY
Digitized by the Center for Adventist Research
fl9J J >
A DVERTIb'EMEN T.
Tke groat value of Bishop Newton's Dissertations on iue Pro-
phecies, both to the learned and to the general reader of Scrip-
ture, has induced the Publisher to spare no pains to render the
present edition correct. For this purpose the text and notes have
been closely revised, and the classical quotations and references
compared with the original authorities. It is hoped, therefore,
that this edition will be found worthy of public attention for its
superior correctness, and as a valuable reprint of one of the most
enlightened treatises on the subject of prophecy which n:r lan-
guage can boast.
£f ' // , Digitized b
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION.
Prophecies one of the strongest proofs 'if revelation. 9. A history nf prophecy cieMred by Lord
Bacon, ih. The con set] lit nee plain IVmn the beltu vjn^r of prophecies to tin; helh:viui< nf re. vela-
tion, ili. The objection that the prophecies were written after the events, ground Uvh, find be-
trays "refit ignorance, or something worse, 10. The tr ■ th of prophcry may lie proved liy in-
stances of ilmu:* fulfilling at thin very time, ih. The evidence drawn from | rophery, a En-owing
evii lei ice, 11. Miniclex the great proofs of revelation io tin- first aires, Prnphtxifr. in' th- last, th.
The necessity (•> which infidels are reduced, either to renounce their senses, or to iidniit the
truth of reielution, 1-2. Most of the principal prophecies of Scripture will he comprehended
in this Work, ad well as several of the most material transactions in history, ib.
DISSERTATION I.
noah's prophecy.
Very few prophecies till Noah, 13. No;ilt'-s drunkenness, and the behaviour nf his sons there-
upon, ih. In consequence "f their different behaviour lie was enabled m fiireudl the ililTerpnt
fortunes of ihcir I'niuilies, 14. The prophecy, 15. Not to he understood of particular persona
but of whole nations, ih. The curse upon Canaan, a curse upon the Canaiinitrs fur their
wickedness, ih. The wickedness of the Cauaanites very great, 16. The curse particularly
implies the subjection of the descendants of Canaan to the descendants of S hem huiI Jiipheih. ih.
The completion of this shown from the time of Joshua to this day, 17. A different rending pro-
posed of lliitn the lather of Canaan instead ofCanaan, IS. The curse in this larger sense also
shown to be fulfilled from the earliest limes to ihe present, 1!>. The premise to Shem of the
Lord Itrini; bis (ind, Imw fulfilled, 20. The promise of enlargement to J;ipli'th, ;tu ;i liu.-ii-n to
his n;nne, ib. How fulfilled both in former and in latter times, 21. The following clause, .uid i = e
sludl dwell in the tents of Shem, capable of two senses, ;ind in 1) th pum tn;i!ly fulfilled, ib.
Concl >>ion, 22, A mistake of Mr. Mede currcctcd, ib. Lord Bnhugbnike censured for his in-
decent re fl i Ti ions on this prophecy, 23. Hi? ignorance about the Codex Alexandrinus, -J4. His
b' under a I ii i ut the ll-uiian historians, ih. His sneer about believers refuted, ib. Condemned by
himself, ib. Had great talents but misapplied them, 2o.
DISSERTATION II.
THE PROPHECIES CONCERNING ISHMAEL.
Abraham favoured with several revehuions, 25. Those concerning Ishmae] or the Islimaelttea,
ih. The promise of a numerous posterity, how fulfilled, 26. The promise of twelve princes,
how fulfilled, ib. The promise of a great nation, how fulfilled, 27. The saying that he should
be a wild man, how fulfilled, ib. The saying that his hand should be against every man, and
every man's hand against him, how fulfilled, 28. The saying' that he should dwell in the pre-
sence of nil his brethren, how fulfilled, ib. The Ishmaelites or Arabians h:.ve from first to hist
maintained their independence, 29. Against the Egyptians and Assyrians, ib. Against the
Persians, 30. Against Alexander and his successors, ib. Against the Romans, 31. Their
state under Mohammed, and since his time, and now under the Turks, 32. Dr. Shaw's account
of then, S3. Bp. Pococke's, ih. Ami Mr. Hanway's, 34. Conclusion, ib. Wonderful, that
they should retain the same manners for so many ages, ib. Mure wonderful that they should
still remain a free people, 35. The Jewa and Arabs in some respects resemble each other, 36.
DISSERTATION III.
THE PROPHECIES CONCERNING JACOB AND ESATT.
More prophecies concerning the posterity of Isaac than of Ishmiel, 37. The promise of the
blessed seed, how fulfilled, ib. The promise of the land of Canaan, how fulfilled, ib. The
promise of a numerous posterity, how fulfilled, T8. The promises concerning Esau and Jacob,
ib. Not verified in themselves, but in their posterity, 39. Comprehend several particulars, ib.
I. The families of Esau and Jacoh two different people and nations, 40. II. The family of the
elder subject to that of the younger, 41. III. In situation and other temporal advantages much
alike, 42. IV. The elder branch delighted more in war and violence, but subdued by the
younger, 43. V. The elder at one time shook off the dominion of the younger, 44. VI. In all
spiritual gifta and graces the younger superior, and the happy instrument of conveying the
blessing to all nations, 45. Conclusion, ib. The prophecies fulfilled in the utter destruction
of the Edomites, ib
DISSERTATION IV.
Jacob's prophecies concerning his sons, partictjlari.t judah.
An opinion of great antiquity, that the soul near death grew prophetic, 46. Jacob upon his death-
bed foretold his sons what should befall them in the last days, the meaning of that phrase, 47.
Jacob bequeath* the temporal blessing to all his sons, the spiritual to Judah 18. The prophe-
cies concerning several tribes, how fulfilled, ib. The temporal blessing how fulfilled to Judah,
49. The spiritual blessing, 50. I. An explanation of the words and meaning of the prophecy,
50 — 54. The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, explained, 50. Nor a lawgiver from be-
tween his feet, explained, 51. Shiloh in nil the various senses of the word shown to be thf
Messiah, 53. Le Clerc's singular interpretation, 53. Jews as well as Christians have by
Shiloh generally understood the Messiah, 53, And unto him shall the gathering of the people
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CONTENTS.
he rim' '•■ .if i',r,-f .Jiff, rent constructions, 54. IT. The completion of the prophecy S4-59
r ', .. ,. , ,,„.,.. i -i [. ;•:.■ „ r body politic, ami so continued nil uie - tin- Mrs-
, "'ViV'V'. .'■ r . ■ ! . i.i'.l.ns.! in, .14. The latter clause fulfilled in the fir-' ■-' •■«<•. "nil the
'. " ' ,. i , 1,.'. 1. .-. Fondled hi the Mworol tHsiwe, and the people etithcrnl to lb*
I V ■- 1 hi In 1 -mi/*, an.) the people [fathered 10 ihe Mwwli Mmt*
. 1... The prophe.y with reeard to benjamin lulhlled, M. Colic, usrai that
J t;„- .\L .-.■i..il, lb.
DISSERTATION V.
-BALAAM'S PROPHECIES.
The -I'", of pr-phwv not itlwnvs confined to the chosen seed, or to good men, .19. Balaam both a
H. '•!••• an ("an inimnml man, ih. A ceremony among the Heathens to enrre 1 civ enemies,
., . „rv of IS >l unit's f* considered, 61. A proper sign to Balaam, and the prophecies
J,.',. ,,,„y,, ci'.'.ihle, ii'-'.- Th° stvlc of his prop! erics beautiful, ib. His prophecy
,.,',i , ., r r |, ; , ' f .,', „. r 0 f the Jewish nation, how fulfilled even to this day, PS. His pro-
•v , . 1 in, i: vji t.,ric« muc h the -erne as Jacob's and Isaac's, ' : 4. His prophecy ol 11 kin? hither
t\:.n>:-. how fulfilled, ih. His preface to his latter prophecies explained, 6-5. His prophecy
<■ . ret;.! a itvptrc lot- mile the princes ofMoah, how fulfilled hy David, «i. Who meant by
lie *,.| » , 1' SI11 ih. 1.7. His prnph. cy nsninst the Edomitos, how I'n Hilled hy David, (lis. This
np.pl v of [lie star and ihe sceptre applied hv most Jewish and Christian writers to the Mes-
i .,!,. ii..' Km prhirip.illv to he understood of David, 70. Ills prophecy against the Amnlckites,
..,;.,..] ii,, ]ip pt'opherv at-ainst the Kenites, and who the K. nit's were, 7-2. How ful-
llili I. in. Lis pr , oiii-cv of (hips from the coast of Chillim, 73. The land ui < hmiro shown to
be a S...IHT..I name for Giocce, lialv. and the countries and islands in the Mediterranean, 10.
II. ov a di. c A--hur, 7j. How afflict' liber, and who meant by Euer, ih. How perish lor ever,
7a. Conclusion, 77.
DISSERTATION VI.
MOSES'S FHOPHKCT OF A PROPHET LIKE UNTO HIMSELF.
Mosrs hath not only preserved several ancient pro[ hecics, hut hath likewise inserted ^. veral of
hi- own. 7 7. His prophecy of another prophet like unto himself, ill. I. What prophet was
here particularly intended, 79— The Messiah principally, if not solely, 7S. Proved from
the conclusion of the book of Deuteronomy, ib. From God's declaration to Miriam and Aaron,
79, From the text itself, ib. From this prophet's being a lawgiver, SB. From fact, ib. II.
The great likeness between Moses and Christ, 81— 84. Christ resembled Moses in more respects
than any other person ever did, 81. The comparison between them as drawn by Eusebius, ih.
As enlarged and improved by Dr. Jortin, S2 — 84. His conclusion from thence, 84. 111. The
punishment of the people for their infidelity and disobedience to this prophet, 84, 85.
DISSERTATION VII.
PEOPHECIES OF MOSF.S CONCERNING THE JEWS.
Prnphe r-ir.s of Moses abound most in Ihe latter part of his writings, SO. The 2=th of Deuterono-
my a !i, fy pi. [ore of [he state of the Jews at present, ib. Prophecy of their enemies coming
from a ier, how fulhllcd, ib. Prophecy of the cruelty of their enemies, how fulfilled, S7. Of
the sir s"s of their cities, ib. Of their distress and famine in the sieees, SS. Of women eating
their own children, sli. Of their great calamines and slaughters, 90. Of their being carried
into F.evpt aed sold for slaves at a low price, ib. Of their beinu plucked from off their own
lata!, '.d. 01 their belli?? dispersed into all nations, 93. Of their still subsisting as a distinet
p -oplp. ib. Of their finding no rest, 93. Of their being oppressed and spoiled, ib. Of their
rhi h en taken from them. u'4. Of th -ir madness and desperation, ib. Of their serving other
finds, iii. Of their becoming a proverb, and a by-vvcrd, Ua. Of the long continuance of their
plagues, 00. Conclusion, ib.
DISSERTATION VIII.
Fr.OPHECIF.3 OF OTHER PROPHETS CONCERNING THE JEWS.
Other prophecies relative to the present state of the Jews, 9ft. I. The prophecies concerning the
restoration of the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and the dissolution of the ten tribes, 97 —
1<!3. Tee restoration of the two tribes foretold to be after 70 years, 07. Fulfilled at three periods,,
ib. The ten tribes to cease from being a people within fio years, DS. The prophecy how ful-
filled, ih. What is become of them since, and where are they el present, Lt9. Vain con-
;C' teres of the Jews thereupon, i)!> — 101. Pint all returned with the two tribes, 101. Not all
su allowed up and lost amonit the heathen nations, ib. Whether they remained, or whether
t!;. y returned, they ceased from being a distinct people, and were all comprehended under
the name of Jews, 101—103. The reason of tnis distinction between the two tribes and the ten
tribes, lt-2. II. The preservation of the Jews, and the destruction of their enemies, lu.i— 10.).
The preservation of the Jews one of the most illustrious acts of div ine providence, 11.3. Nrr
less the provahnce of God in the destruction of their enemies, 101. Not onlv nations hut single
persons, ib. ill. The desolation of Judea another memorable instance of the truth of pro.
phery, luj— lux Foretold hy the prophets, 10.5. The present state of Judea answerable to
tin- prophecies, 1 Ofi. No objection fiom hence to its having been a land flowing with milk and
hoiicv, ih. The ancients, Heathens as well as Jews, testify it to have been a good land, ib.
Mr. Muiui'.reb's account of its present state, 107. Dr. Shaw's, IDS. IV. The prophecies of
the udid. lity aed reprobation of the Jews, how fulfilled, 109. V. Of the celling and obedience
of 1 lie Gentiles, 111, Tins revolution effected by incompetent persons, end in a short time,
112. 1 he prophecies concerning the Jews and Gentiles have not yet received their entire com-
pletion, 1 13. What hath been nccompii-hed a sufficient pledee of what is to come, ib. Con-
clusion, dissuading all persecution, and recommending humanity and charily to the Jews, 114
DISSERTATION IX.
THE PROPHECIES CONCERNING NINEVEH.
Some prophecies relating 10 other nations which had connexions Willi the Jews, 116. Want of
ai-eietii eastern historians to clear up the prophecies, ib. The Assyrians terrible enemies to
001 11 Mac] and Judah, ib. Isaiah's prophecy against the Assyrians. 117. Nineveh, the capital
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f>r the Assyrian empire, n most nneient rllv, IIS. An r \i-nci!iilg creat rify Ii!;=-wi ft rid the
Si i 1 1 1' nr.- an- .nut emi firmed liy hear lim ;nitli->r^, 1 I'.i, I 'JO I.iki' other :;ri-at < ,n. . v» t y r r-
r 1 1 1 t, hot km:' and people repented, ;ii the p- i-in-liinir of Jonah, U 1 . Some in piny v. bo IhU
k i< wa ;, .iinl ;it what time Jonah propln- -i.-il, ih. Their r> p'^.tancc a\ .< . ' >r t emit ion ■ i r i-, t ■ ( r
IV ahum not long alter foretold the .IcHiriini'ui of the riiy, iJI. Sninc hupi'm vvlo-n Na,.i»n
piMiih--i ■-!, 121, I j J . Nineveh :irc< inlin L'ly tlt'^-ir .y by tin- M'de^ iiml Bahylonian 1-22.
S in ]"irv hv whom pa rt ienlarlv, ib. Nahmo'- propher n tin' iiniiin.r n|' it. * t * - tfueiioii
1 1 \ 1 1 ' i i V l"i i : 1 1 h ] ■ f acr.ii'.lnii,' fi ( e areoiinls of Dindorus Si.nli|.-J, I .'3 — 1*2>, .Valium and '/.<■
p)i i n i.i 1 1 lii ri i(i i ni a I tli'-'irurtiuri military lt» all pmhaliilu y, I 2.'u These pri'ili'li"i:~ In Killed
ari-.ir.li i'.' f'i iliti accounts uf the, uin lunts, liiti. According iu U«J accounts ol the moderns, 127.
Cl.lll'lKSii.H, 12*
DISSERTATION' X.
TltF, PROPHl".< IKS CONCERNING DAISYI-ON".
Bribvltin ;n well ns Nineveh an eiiemV pi til'- pfoph: of find, lii. A verv great and vrrv ancient
rjiv, ib. Con -iilp-raiily improved Uy Ni-hiiehadne/.zar, 130. One (if the iviidi'i-.j ,,f t M * = v orl.l,
i!i.' |-:aiali an I Jeremiah foretold' its destruction, ill. Prnphoi'bs ul' Cyrus tin- fin-j", p>r (if
Halivi-.n. fulfilled. The limn "film reduction of Habylon foretold, S. vera I ■ j rn n : r j -
PtanriM mi' tin' sirgn foretold, ih. Besiegep| hy the Med- s ami Hlnmitcs or Persians, ih, Ar-
meniain ami other nations uniirtl air aiti-t U, i:tt. The Babylonians hide themselves within
their waIN, ih. Tho river dried vip ih. The city taken during a feast, The lar-tn related
1 1 v If'T'iilium n ml Xennphon, and therefore no room for skepticism, lii-i. The prophet- fore-
told its total desolation, ih. These prophecies to b-: fulfilled hy degrees, l:;b. Its state under
Cyrus, ih. Under Darius, \M. Undo- Xerxes, Under Alexander and afterward, ib.
The aeen-tnts of it since that time, by D nd«>rns, Straho, ih. Pliny, 1-40. l'ausaiiias, ib.
Maviiiius '1'vrins, and Lncian, ih. Jeriune, ih. Ar.cnunts of later anthnrs, of Benjamin of
Tndtda. 1 11'. Texeira, ib. Kauwolf, ib. Peter do la Vallc, Hi. Taveruier, ib. Mr. Sal-
mon, ih. Mr llaiiway, I 13. By these arrrnnits it appears hnw pnnenially the pruplieiiiea
have hern fulfilled, ih. CnnrliLsion ; sueh pj"opherie> a cnnvinciii? ar.uunient nf ilie divinity of
tlie Scriptures, and likewise instances ul' line writing, and of the spirit of liberiy, 144.
DISSERTATION AT.
THE PROrilKCIKS CONCERNING TTRK.
Tyre, nnnther enemy tn the Jews, its (all predietrd by Isaiah ami E/ekiel, 11). Tlie prr)]>lirries
relate in h uh <>!<l and new Tyre, I 1 S'i. A very aneinit eity, 1 Pi. The daughter id' Sidnn,
bur in time excelled the nnuiier, and heeaine a mart of nations, 117. In this Uourishim! con-
diriim, when tie 1 prophets liireudd her destnietion, for her pride, and wickedness, and cruelty
to tin.' Jews. I IS. Several pattieulars inchi bnl in the prophecies, I I!). I. The city tn he taken
and de-u'iuvd liy iVehnchadnez/.ar and the Clialdeans, laO. II. Tlie iidiabitants to pa-s over
the Meiliterraaean, but tn find un rest, III. The city to be restored after 70 years, l-i3.
IV. To Ije taken ami destroyed again, 1)4. V. The people to forsake idofury, an ■! become
convert ■ to the true religion, I.jG. VI. The city at last to be totally destroyed, and become, a
place tor tishers to spread their nets upon, 1-jS. These prophecies to be fulfilLd \>y deefees,
i!). A s!i-ut aeconnt of the place from the time of Nebuchadnezzar to the present, l.;8— ltJO
Hnetiix's aer.innt of it, 130, Dr. Shaw's, IjS), 1G0. Mr. Maundrell'a, ib. Conclusiun with
some reilections upon trade, 1G1.
DISSERTATION XII.
THE PROPIIRC1ES CONCERNING EGYPT.
Egypt fa m mi a for its antiquity, 16-2. No less celebrated for Ua wisdom, ib. The parent of su-
perstition a-j well as the mistress of learn in;?, Had such Connexions with the Jews, that
it is made the subject of several prophecies . ib. The phrase of the burden of Egypt, considered
and explain >d, ib. I. lis conquest by Nebuchadnezzar foretold by Jeremiah and Ezekiel, 164.
How fulfilled, l'ia. II. its conquest hy the Persians foretold by Isaiah, and how fulfilled, ln7.
III. lis < nnque-( hy Alexander foretold bv Isaiah, and at the same time the spreading of ;he true
rclii'iou iu tie' land, \m. How fulfilled, 171. IV. The prophecy of Ezekiel that it should be
a base trilmtaiy kingdom, 173. The truth of it shown by a short deduction of the history of
Es-'ypt from that time to this, 174 — ISO. Its stare under the Babylonians, 174. Under the Per-
sians. l7o. Under the Macedonians, I'ti. Under the Romans, 177. Under tlie Saracens,
with the burning of r he Alexandrian library, ib. Under the Manialucs, 179. Under the Turks,
ISO. No one could have foretold this upon human conjecture ib. Conclusion with some re-
flections upon the character of the Egyptians as drawn by ancient and modern authors, 131.
dissertation xiii.
Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the great empires.
Some prophecies relating to more remote nations, 182. The genuineness of Daniel's prophecies
denied by Porphyry, and Collins, but sufficiently vindicated, ib. The credit of Daniel as a
prophet established hy prophecies fulfilling at this lime, 1S3. Daniel's first pmphecv. his in
terpretatinn of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, with the occasion of it, 183 — 1S3. A great human
iK'nrn not an improper emblem of human power, and the various parts and metals'signitV vari-
mis kingdoms, 13>, I. The head of fine gold, or the Babylonian empire, 136. The extent of
it sh-.wn from heathen authors, ib. II. The breast and arms of silver, or the Medo-Persian
empire, 1-7. Why said to be inferior, and how long it lasted, ib. III. The belly and ihiirhsof
hr,i*.s, or the Macedonian empire, 133. Why said to bear rule over all the earth, ib. ' The
kiuLM'mi of Alexander and of his successors n >t two different kingdoms, ib. Spoken of as one
and die same hy ancient authors, 139. IV. The legs of iron, and feet part of iron and part of
clay, or the fourth empire, 190. Farther proofs ihat the kingdoms of the Seleueid e and
Lasrida* cannot be the fourth kingdom, ib. This description applicable oniv to the Roman
empire, IPI. So St, Jerome explains it, and all ancient writers, bo'.h Jewish and Christian,
19-2. V. The stone that brake the image, or the fifth empire, ib. Cannot be the Roman, 193.
Can be understood only of the kingdom of Christ, ib. Represented in two states, as a stone,
and as a mountain, 194. This interpretation confirmed by ancient writers, bo:h Jews and
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(" ; . ;• a; 1 inrfi.-iii.irlv )»y .Tnnnlhnn Tlrn Uzzicl, who made, the Chaldee paraphrase upon
); ■'):>■>. The >« use "f .l.«seplni.-« with Bishop Chandler's reflections upon it, 195.
y> . ■ i •■.n.i |\ 1 1»> same iiucrpmlnlinn, l!>t>. St, Chrysostnme's comment, ib. The
, x ; , . : .. ..; s ■:!!■ >.\ "ni-, lt'^. Conclusion, Hence we ;tre enabled 10 :>• ■en nut for
\, ! ... pi <•■■■• v. :ui,] the D.-lpliii- oracle, ib. Hence Lhc distinction of lour great
,. .;, . .»•.! -.\hy i.j.ly iIu-m; lour predicted, 200.
DISSERTATION XIV.
DAXlKh's Vision OF THE SAME.
\V ■ v , v'i ' '■■ ,1 (.1 Nebuchadnezzar in tin: form of a great i ma ire, was represented to Daniel
, • ■ ■ .■ _-r-e.ii \\ ih! lira -is, and why, -JO l. I. The Babylonian empire why compared to
, ; ,'. U'.iy with im.-Ii-'s wing--, ih. ' Why with a man's heart, ib. II. The Persian em-
,, -i i- - l ir.Mi t » a bear. 2(>:t. ll>*\- raised up iwelf on one side, and had three ribs in thfl
>, \\< cruelty, ih. HI. The Macedonian empire, why compared to a leopard, 2'f4.
W ;"■■-» r win-'! ;mii Jon r heads, ;nnl dominion given to it, 2<K5. IV. The Roman empire
, []■■ J i i ,1 lemon 1 lit-a«t wiilmur a name, ib. The kingdoms ofthe Soleucidaj and Lagidie can
i:, i.m n -|m ,■! aii-urr in this ili-^rription, *jt)(i. The Roman empire answers exactly, ib. A
■ n i- <iii-<-:i'.i >ii m this purpose from Dionysina of Halicarnassus, 207. This beast had
;■ 'i h*-r\i< ■ r ki i.doins, and the kingdoms of Egypt and Syria were never so divided, 203.
T::'' nf I'.irpUyry, <irutiiii', and Collins, refuted, ib. 209. The ten kingdoms to be
...in .t»n;-j tin broken pieces of the Roman empire, 209. The ten kingdoms according; to
M . i.i.tw ;. Ari-ofdiui; to Mr. Mede. ib. Affording to Bishop Lloyd, 210. According to
Sir |;.ia-' ,\i'wfi%n, tit. The panic number since, ib. How they stood in the eighth century, ib.
A little Ii.tu to l is- u;i arming the ten, 211. The notion of (irotius and Collins, that Antiuehus
Kj'ijili I'u's w.is the [niie limn, n-- fined, il-. An inquiry proposed into the sense of the ancients,
21 .'. Ti." .'|iiiiihii of IreiM us. ib. Of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, ib. Of St. Jerome with Then-
r,-ivri Si. ,\i:>-Mn. 213. The fathers had some mistaken notions concerning Antichrist, and
)vnv it i ante to p;iss they hud such, 2i4. The little horn to be sought among the ten kingdoms
• if th»; wt'-ti'ni Roman empire, 21.5. Machiavel himself points out a litt le horn springing up
anvil ' Hi" r - - 1 1 3 2I(i. Three of the first herns to fall before him, ib. The three according to
Mr. Mt'de, ib. According to Sir Isaac Newton, 217. Something to be approved, and some-
thing in be disapproved in both their plans, ib. The first of the three horns, the exarchate of
Ravenn;i, 21S. The second, the kingdom of the Lombards, ib. The third, the state of Rome,
*_'];». The character answers in all other respects, 220. How long Antichrist to continue, 221.
V. All these kingdoms to be succeeded by the kingdom of the Messiah, 222. This and the
firmer pn>pln ry compared together, 22:1. They extend from the reign of the Babylonians to
tin 1 i**" t -.uMim:iu>ui of all things, 223. Will cast light upon the subsequent prophecies, and
thu aubsmpient prophecies reileet light upon them again, ib. Conclusion, ib.
INTRODUCTION TO THE LECTURE FOUNDED BY THE HONOURABLE
ROBERT EOYLE.
Hnv and by whom tin? author wa? appointed to preach the Boyle's lecture, 22 j. Previous to the
i.Lrtii'T c 1 p|j!..-iii'.'.i o| Daniel, a vindication is proposed of the genuineness of his prophecies
ii'-Mii;-t t'l-) priuripa] obj-rtiuu^ of unbelievers, 220. Collins-s eleven objei-tions particularly
- ' •! mi !''■; lit'-if. 227. kc. His first otijeetion, relating to the age of Daniel, refuted, ib.
f='-'"'i.d "bu-i'ti'ia, relating to the misttvke of the king's names, and to Nebuchadnezzar's
ni.y!:i----. n-f:i;.*d, ib. His third objection, relating to Greek words found in Daniel, refuted,
2J.H. Hi- fourth objertj.m, relating to the version of the Seventy, refuted, ib. His fifth objec-
tion, iltiiwii ti-'.ni tin; efcarness of Daniel's prophecies to the times of Antioehus Kpiplianes,
rt-f,:t!"il, -i. 1 His; .-i \ th olijeciioii, drawn from the omission of Daniel in the book of Eerlesias-
ticu--, relute.l, ih. His seventh oiijection, relating to Jonathan's making no Targum on Daniel,
refutei], 2:»0. His eighth objection, drawn from the style of Daniel's Chaldee, refuted, ib. His
iinitb objection, drawn from the forgeries of the Jews, refuted, ib. His tenth objection, drawn
from _ Daniel's uncommon punctuality in fixing the times, refuted, 231. His eleventh objection,
relating to Daniel's setting forth facts very imperfectly ami contrary to other histories, and to
his .lark and emblematic style, refuted, ib. The external and internal evidence 'for the
pcnunieii^s of the book of D.miel, 232. The division of the remainder of this work, agreeable
to the lt e iga of the honourable founder, 233. From the instance of this excellent person, and
WW* others., it is aliuwu that philosophy and religion may well consist and agree together, ib.
dissertation xv.
daviel's vision of the ram and hf.-roat.
ljp part nr the book of Daniel written in Chaldee, the rest in Hebrew, 234. The time
utv\ p.. ice of the vision, ib. Like visions have occurred to others. 23-5. The ram with two
horns reprc^ots the empire of the Merles and Persians, 236. Why with two horns and one
in bei th in the other, ib. Why this empire likened to a ram, 237. The conquests of the ram,
.ne me great extent of the Persian empire, ih. The he-goat represents the Grecian or Ma-
' : ; M, ; :n r J W,1 >' l "* Vlk ^ ] ™ * i". The swiftness of, he he-goat,
u r r '" r f ", , ' ,lw " M * }»* c y^« what signified thereby, ib. An account of the conquests
Xiwn m Ah v-M ,L i r n * n ; lUS °, vei ' th, '" w r" the P . eraian em P )re > 239. These prophecies
r- 1 il J ' llC Jr "- U an ;' T' n w ,at or ^ sl ^ 241. The truth of the story vindi-
r. u. <\ ib. Ansu er to the oi,,ee t .on of its being inconsistent with chronology. 243. Answer to the
.'■."I 1 !":'.:. S t:i? " f , ; lhf ' r J ^P^^ 2^ Other circums'ancee
woi. n conlinu the truth of this relation, 24.). How four horns succeeded to the great horn-
horn' i t , . 7 K f;i|;lia.u-s but capab e of another and better application, 247. A
A. i , F n , y 11 •; I ,-- |,: ^ ,M - ,,Mt a , k, "" <lom » a,ld hpre tllc Roman empire rather than
LeiL.-r wn ,\ I K ' " u '! :ut Cuiur I ,n "'P*«'es and actions of the little horn agree
belt' r vmJ. Uie Roman., as well as the general character, ib. Reason of the appellation of the
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v
little horn, 24!). Ttic time too agrees better with th" Romnn«, ib. The character of a kinir of
fierce counteri-nre, rind understanding dark st-menc's iti-.jr applicable to the Romans than to
Antiochus, ib. 2 .0. Other actions likewise of tin' little joun ar.-nrd better with tlie Romaic,
Ud'2. Waving exceeding gnat, lb. Toward the smith, ib. Toward i he east, ib. And toward
tin; ]ilc:isiiMC land, '2Y.i. Tin- pnipcrty of his jkuvci- I rimr mighty. In it not hy his own pi.wcr.
can unwhtTd be su properly applied ;is to the Rinnans, ib. Afl die particulars of the pcrseeu
lion and npjiressinn rif the people n[" Gnd more exactly ltdfilh-d by the Romans than by Ami<--
clins, *J.)1. It deserves tn be considered, wiiellu r tin's pail ol die prophecy be not ;i sketch of
the fate and Hift'eriugs of tho Christian, as well as ol' the Jewish church, 2-j5. Farther reason
of the appellation ol the Mule horn, *2")t>. The little horn tn come to a remarkable end, which
will be fulfilled in a more extraordinary manner in the- Humans, than it was even in Antio-
chus, ib. It will farther appear that tlie application is more proper t<> the Rom a ns, by consider,
in? the time allotted for the duration and continuance of the vision, 257. Tlie 2300 days or
years can by no computation be accommodated to ihe tinn-s of Antiochus EpiphantN, 238.
How they are to he computed, ib. Daniel's concern and affliction for his country, and this &
farther argument that not the calamities* under Antiochus, but those brought upon tlie nation by
the Romans, were the subject of this prophecy, 260. Kr<>m this and other examples it may In-
inferred, that the Scriptures will never abate, but rather encourage our Jove for uur country, *tii.
DISSERTATION XVI.
Daniel's prothect of the things noted in the scripture of truth.
in two parts. — part i.
This latter prophecy a comment upon tlie former, 2i2. Imparted to Daniel after fasting and
prayer, ib. A prophecy for many days or years, ib. Of the Persian empire, 263. The three
fust king.-* of Persia after Cyrus, ib. The fourth far richer than ail, ib. His stirring up alt
against the realm of Grecia, ib. Why no more kings of Persia mentioned, 264. A short
sketch of Alexander's gre-it dominion, ib. His family soon extinct, and Ids kingdom divided
into four kingdoms, 266. Of these four, two only have a place in this prophecy, Egypt and
Syria, and why, 2H6. Why called the kings of the south and the north, ib. Ptolemy king of
the south or Esj-ypt, very strong, but Seleueus king- of the north or Syria, strong above him, ih
The transactions between Ptolemy Philadelphia of Egypt, and Antiochus Thetis of Syria, 267
Ptolemy Kueriretes of E-rypi revenues the wrong of his family upon Seleueus Callinicus o.
Svria. 26 K The short and inglorious reiirn of Seleueus Orauuus of Syria, 270. Succeeded
bv his brother Antiochus the Great, who gained L'reut advantages over the king of Egypt, 271.
I'ut rt'demy Philojiator obtains a signal victory over Antiochus at Raphia, ib. His vicious and
shameful conduct afterward, and cruelty to the Jew's, 272. Antiochus prepares again to in-
vade Egypt in the minority of Ptolemy Epiphanes, 273. Philip king of Macedon and the Jews
associafe with him, 275. His success against the king of Egypt, 276. His favour to the Jews,
277. His scheme to seize upon the kingdom of Egypt frustrated, 278. His unhappy war with
the Romans, 27;). The latter end of Ids life and reign inglorious, 2b0. The mean reign of his
son and successor Seleueus Philopator, 281. Antiochus Epiphanes, the brother of Seleueus,
obtains the kingdom by flatteries, 232. Hi3 freaks and extravagances, ib. His successes
against bis competitors, and removal of the high priests of the Jews, 283. His liberality and
profusion, 284. The claims ol' Ptolemy Philometor king of Egypt upon him, and his prepara-
tions against Egypt, ib. He invades and makes himself master of all Egypt except Alex-
andria, chiefly by the treachery of Ptolemy Philometor's own ministers and subjects, 286.
Ptolemy Philometor and Antiochus Epiphanes speak lies at one table, 287. Antiochus returns
with great spoils, 288. His crueliy to the Jews, ib. He invades Egypt again, and is hindered
from totally subduing it by an embassy from the Romans, 2S9. He returns therefore, and
vents all his anger upon the Jews, 291. Abolishes the Jewish worship bv the instigation of the
apostate Jews, ib. Conclusion to show that this prophecy is more exact and circurmtantia.
than any history, ib.
DISSERTATION XVII. .
THE SAME SUEJECT CONTINUED. PART II.
More obscurity in the remaining part of the prophecy, 203. Polluting the sanctuary, taking
away the daily sacrifice, and placing the abomination of desolation, more properly applicable
to the Romans than to Antiochus Epiphanes, with the reasons for passing from Antiochus to
the Romans, 293 — 29C. What follows more truly applicable to ihe afflicted state of the primi-
tive Christians after the destruction of Jerusalem than to the times of Antiochus, 296. The
little help and the persecutions afterward cannot be applied to the times of the Maccabees
but to the Emperor's becoming Christian, and the succeeding persecutions, 2i>7. The Ami-
christian power, the principal source of these persecutions, described, 299. How long to pros-
per, 301. Described here as exei ted principally in the eastern empire, ib. His not regarding
the gnd of his fathers, nor the desire of women, falsely affirmed of Antiochus, but truly of mis
Aiuichristian power, ib. 3(12. His honouring Mahuzzim with precious gifts, and who they are,
303. Other instances of his regard to Mahuzzim, in glorifying their priests and ministers, S06.
The remaining parts more appl icable to other events than to the transactions of Antiochus, 30S.
After the account of the degeneracy of the church, follows a prediction of its punishment,
especially in the eastern part of it by the Saracens and Turks, 30S— 310. Judea and the neigh-
bouring countries to be subdued, but the Arabians to escape, not verified by Antiochus but by
the Turks, 310. The Turks could never subdue the Arabians, but on the contrary pay them
an annual pension, 312. The total subjection of Egypt, together with Libva and Ethiopia, not
accomplished by Antiochus, but by the Turks, ib. The rest of the prophecy yet to be fulfilled,
313. Cannot be applied to Antiochus, but belongs to the Othman empire, 314. What the
tidings from tlie east and north, 315. What meant by going forth to destroy and utterly to
make away many, 317. What by planting his camp between the seas in tlie glorious holy
mountain, 318. The same things foretold by Ezekiel in his prophecy concerning Gog of the
land of Magog, ib. The great tribulation and the subsequent resurrection cannot be applied to
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.;...„ m„ .-.,!.. , :. il.. \n h..imrv into the lime of iW cents . S'!>. A ronjwtnw
,,' , .,'„,, ,„,.. »„i i jiai ,.. a f^ iiiul i-.w rear*, mul 1S8* year*, m ( ..iw-Uimnn M
^ A .', , ,', ' ; , ,, . j , ,,i ,,r ihis pr.-jdiecv, and from thence to prove that Daniel was a
DISSERTATION XVIII.
ii, .„|,in;'< I'UOl'HKf IKS IlK.l.ATlXn TO THE DKSTr.CCTlOM CV JERUSALEM.
IN POVK PARTS. — PART 1.
... . .. | .., !.„'!.•- continued imiL-iT in ii"' Jewish chiirr.li than in the Christian, ami why,
. m i n i.i ii i'. -p I. .vies n-. '.nl.-.l. Init ».>me ..four Savimir anil his apostles, j>arlii;tilarly
V.'p ' . ' -i .l .lui.i 1 .. A -lion sMimmirv nl i in' Saviour's prophecies, ib. Kuiie mm ' e
',, , , . tli.m ih....- n latin" to ih.' de.struciion of Jerusalem, wliicli wen, wihipnarxl publish-
,' . ... . ,, I, .l'..r.- lliai event. Kit Saviour's lendorncs.s ami aflVrttnn for life" country
I,,,,,. .,„,,,.. :„„| weeping over Jerusalem, :'.-J7. The magnificence of Ihe temple,
el irlv i'i.' prod . -ions size of tin- stones, ill. The total and niter destruction of the
, -v '. ,. ,, .„,,•.: i;,re,ol.l. ami Ik.iIi il.-stn.vi'.l areonliii!!lv, IMS. The purport of llie disciples'
, |, ;,.,,| ,!„. phrases of the com ns: of Christ ami ..I' the i-iul of the world, shown to slsnity
i'i . ,v-tt i- 'i ii of Jerusalem, 33,i. The iliseiplesa.it two things: first, the lime i>r the deslruc-
... , .[, rinalem. ami s.-eouillv, ihe shins of it ; our Saviour answers the last first, 331. False
ii,., si-ju. 33 '. The next signs wars ami ruuioiirs of wars, 333. Nation rising
■ i , i vition, and kingdom ai-ainst fcin-olnm, ih. Famines, pestilences, unit earthquakes in
,,, , , r < ),:.„ i 331. Fearful sights ami great signs from heaven, 33.5. These the beginning of
* ,■ . v. .;:,s. Kp-m ihe ealainiiies of the nation he passetli to thus-- of the Christians in par-
;., ,! , r . A i eruel persecutions, ih. Apostates anil traitors of their own brethren, ib. ::3f.
V ,i i. ,, -her- and false prophets, 33!). Lukewarmncss and coolness among Christians, ih.
n t ••'• !,.. who s all endure to the end, the same shall he saved, 340. The gospel to be uni-
, , ,■ ].,,Mi- bed lief, re ihr- ilesiruclion of Jerusalem, and was so in Britain as well as other
. , v.. It. -lb -.-ii. .n- upon what hath been said, 34 J. The first upon the surprising manner
n, which these pr.ipbeei.-s have been fulfilled, ib. Another upon ihe sincerity and ingenuity of
Christ, .-,,..1 the . ..urage and constancy of his disciples, ib. A third on the sudden and amazing
progress of the gospel, ib, A fourth 'on the signals and presages of the ruin of states, ib.
DISSERTATION XIX.
* THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED,
PART II.
After 'he r;r-iims!aners which passed before the siege, we are to treat with those which happened
.b.rini' ill sie^-e and after it, 343. The abomination of desolation standing in th<J holy place,
Ih-- it-'iiian army hesieuing Jerusalem, ih. Then the Christians to lly into the mountains, 344
Th< ir !',-bl must be sudden and hasty, 34-3. Wo unto them that are with child and that give
s-i- k in ti,..-e day s, exemplified particularly in the story of a noble woman, who killed and eat
li.r.evn suekuie: child, ib. To pray that their Might be. not in the winter, neither on the sab-
b.:li-.!,iy. 3]i;. Providentially ordered that there were such favourable opportunities of escap-
i - t- f-.re the city was closely besieged, 347. The great calamities and miseries of the Jewish
i...,i - - ij in , hose days, 343. None of the Jews would have escaped destruction, had not the days
b--.-:i -l. -rn i.e.l for the sake of the Christian Jews, 250. A more particular caution against
I'.-! -.- *'!,, t-.s and false prophets about the lime of ihe siege and destruction of Jerusalem, 351.
T,;. ir j.r. jt-iulinL- to work miracles, ib. Their conducting their followers into the desert, or
int.. ih,. secret chambers, 337. But the coming of Christ will not be in this or that particular
place. Ii- will be laking vengeance of the Jews every where, 253. Some considerations upon
tie- c In. t of ihese false Clirists anil false prophets, 35), &c. It may reasonably be inferred
fioin h.-uce. that tlirre hath been a true prophet, a true Christ, ib. The Messiah particularly
expected about the lime of our Saviour, ib. The Messiah to work miracles. 356. Jesus alone
hath p-rl'orrned the miracles which the Messiah was lo perform, ib. The difference between
the c luci and sflc.cess of these deceivers anil of Jesus Christ, 357. The force of superstition
and ei.ihu-iasm in their deluding such numbers, 358. All are not to be credited, whopretendto
work miracles, ib. How we are lo judge of miracles, 359. What we are to think of the Pagan,
Ib. And what ol the Popish miracles, 260.
DISSERTATION XX.
THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED.
PART III
The final destruction of Jerusalem foretold in very figurative language, 301 The like figures
u-.u by ih- ancient prophets, Mi. The same figurative style n ihe following verses, ib. Dr
W.rt.-ui -i.'s account ol this figurative language, 363. The number of those who fell by the
"' sw " ri '. An account of those who were led away captive into all nations, 3B5.
Jeni-alem trodden down ol the Gentiles, 365'. A deduction of Ihe history of Jerusalem from
the ..e-iriien.,,, i,y Titus to ihe present time, 357—376. Its ruined and desolate state under Ves-
p,.-, ,ii a,..! 1 iius, 3.7. Rebuilt by Adrian, ami the Jews' rebellion thereupon, and final djs
per-nui. ,„. Repaired by <;oii.,iai.une, ar.J adorned with many stately edifices and churches,
win, a fanher o<i* rMO ,, < f the Jews, 3i!>. Julian's purpose to settle the Jews, and his attempt
I-. r-,:„nM the |...i.pl« miraculously defeated, ib. Slate or Jerusalem under the succeeding em-
Ii.-r-.rs. a,o. l ake,, and plundered by the Persians, 371. Surrendered to the Saracens, ib.
l a-es Imrn iliu Saracens lo the Turks of the Sclzuccian rare, and <i, m ,|, e Turks to the
K(r.vpi,,u,s l ake,, lr„,n the Kgypiians by the Franks or Latin Christians, ib. Recovered
, • '"" r>™"* "' •rf. v l*' : '; :l ' C'.mes under the dominion of the Mamalucs, 374. Annexed
" "" "uinons of ihe I ir -ks of the Olhinan race, in whose hands it is at present, 375. Likely
.tL Villain "' ( ';'!Hdes, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled, 376. What
Itx fuinllmgul the limes of the Gentiles, lb.
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CONTEXTS.
DISSERTATION XXT.
the same si'kjkct continued.
PART V.
From the. siimu our Saviour proceeds tn (real concerning the time of the destruction nf Jenwah'T],
:;77 Hi- allinns [hat it would In: in tin- present ircnei.uh'ii, :.ls. Some linn living would be-
h'dil mid siifl'er 'J ese Calamities, 'lb. Hut still (In- exaet linn- unknown t" all nv;n nrcs, iy.
According to Si. Mark unknown to I lie Sort, :-79. Tin- -j iuun< -nc^ of that text vindicated, and
tin' sense ex plained, ib. : SO. 'I lie destruction of Jerii-aleni typieal of the end of the world,
:isi. llcllerttoiiw upon the whole, ib. The exact cumph tinn of these prophecies a strong
pi oof of revelation, id. The prophecies plain ami easy, t ken from Mn--es and Daniel, hut
improved ;ind enlarged, Vespasian in id Tuns wunderfr.Hy raised up ami preserved fur
tin- completion of these, prophecies and Joseplius for the illustration of ilieir completion, ill.
The great use and advantage of his history in this respect. IJS3. The cause of these heavy
judgments on the Jews, their crucifying of Jesus, : 84. Some correspondence between their
crime and their punishment, ib. Application tu us Christians, 3Sa.
DISSERTATION XXII.
st. Paul's pkophkit of the man op sin.
*?t, r.iupR and St. John's prophecies copied from Daniel with some improvements, 36ft. Two
most memo] aide prophecies of St. Pant, the first of the man of sin, ib. J. The senre and
meaning of the p issage, sriii — 3sW, The coming of Christ in this place, and the tlay of Christ,
not meant of the destruction of Jerusalem, hut of the end of the world, 3S(i — ;JS9. Other
mcninral.le events to lake place before, ;is:>. What, the apostacy, ib. Who the man of sin, ib.
ilis exalting himself, 3iH). His skims in the temple of God, These things communicated
before to (he Thessalonians, ib. What hindeied the revelation of the man of sin, :i<J-2. His
destruction foretold before his otlier qualifications, ib. His other qualifications described, 393.
II. This prophecy strangely mistaken and misapplied by some famous comniL-ntutors, 393— 10-J.
Grotius's application of it lo Caligula and Simon Magus, refined, 29:1 — S95. Hammond's
iipplicaiion af it to Simon Magus- and the Gnostics, refuted. 3t>->. Le Clerc's application of it
jo ilie rebellious Jews and Simon the son of Gioras, refuted, Whitby's application of it
to the Jewish nation with their high-p ■test ami Sanhedrim, refuted, Wetsteiu's applica-
tion of it to Titus and the Flavian family, refined, 3!ti>. They bill fairer for the true interpre-
tation, who apply it to events after the destruction of Jerusalem, AUG. Application of it to
Mohammad, refuted. -!<U. Applica.'ion of it to the Reformation, refuted, ib. Application to T lie
I irt tire Ani ich: ist of the papists, refuted, AtH, HI. The true application of this prophecy, ib.
The apostacv charged upon the church of Rome, ib. The pope shown to be the man of sin.
403. How these dungs came to be mentioned in an epistle to the riicssaionians rather than to
Che Romans, 4'J.3. The seeds of popery sown in the apostle's time, ib. The empire of the
man of sin raised on the nuns ol the Roman empire, -tOi>. Mnchiavel cited to show how this
was effected, ib. Miracles pretended in the church of Rome, AOS. The empire of the man of
sin will be totally destroyed, 409. The man of sin the .-ame as the little horn or mighty kin^
in Daniel, ib. Generally both by ancients and moderns denominated Antichrist, 410. The an-
<■ i e 1 1 1 fathers give much the same interpretation of this whole passage, ib. Justin Martyr,
Ircna us, and Tertullian in the second century, 410, 41 1. Origon in the third century, 411.
Lactantius, Cyril, and Ambrose in the fourth century, ib. Jerome, Austin, and Chrysostome in
the latter end "of the fourth, or the beginning of the fifth century, 415. Whosoever affected the
title of universal bishop, he was Antichrist, in the opinion of Tope Gregory the Great, 413.
How the true notion of Antichrist was suppressed, and revived again with the Reformation,
ib. How this doctrine afterward became unfashionable, but is now growing into repute again.
414. Conclusion ■ such a prophecy at once a proof of revelation, and an antidote to popery ;
the blindness of the papists in this particular, 415.
DISSERTATION XXIII.
ST. pattl's prophecy of the apostacy of the latter times.
St. Paul much affected with the foresight cf the great apostacy of Christians, 416. Described here
more particularly, 417. I. The apostacy shown to be idolatry, ib. Some in Scripture often
signifies many, 419. The apostacy to be great and general, 4iii. The same in the Jewish and
Christian church, ib. II. Shown more particularly to consist in the worshipping of demons, ib.
Demons in the Gentile theology middle powers and mediators between the ^ol\s and men, 421.
Two kinds of demons, souls of men deified or canonized after death, and separate spirits, 43>.
Good and bail demons, 423. The Gentile notion of demons has sometimes place in Scripture.
404. A passage in Epiphanius. that much confirms and illustrates the foregoing exposition
42'i, The worship of saints and angels now the same as the worship of demons formerly, 427
The rise of this worship, 4-28. Too much promoted and encouraged by the fathers from Con
stiintine'a time, and particularly by Theodoret, ib. The conformity between the Pagan ana
Popish worship, 430. III. The worship of the dead to take place in the latter times, 431,
What these latter times are, ib. IV. The worship of demons foretold expressly by the Spirit
in Daniel, 432. V. Propagated and established through the hypocrisy of liars, 433. VI. For-
bidding to marry, a farther character of these men, 434. Who first recommended the profes-
sion of single lite,, 43o. The same persons, who prohibited marriage, promoted the worship
of the dead. ib. VII, The last note of these men, commanding to abstain from meats, 43".
The same persons, who propagated the worship of the dead, impose also abstinence from
meats, ib. This abstinence perverting the purpose of nature, 43S. All creatures to be received
with thanksgiving, ib.
DISSERTATION XXIV.
AN ANALYSIS OF THE REVELATION.
IN TWO PARTS. — PART I.
Tery useful to trace the rise and progress of religions and governments, 439. None mors
wonderful than that of Rome, in its success and prevalence, ib. This signified beforehand bv
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tin. Spirit of p. i>phivv ami particularly in the Revelation, il). The objection- made to this
li „,', be < ( ■-, <-r .1 earned 11 .-11, i4i. This book difficult io explain, ib. A nwm«iai.lr » ory u>
tin* purpose nl' H i ~ 1 1 . . | ■ l.l.'Vil nl" Worcester, ib. This bonk; not iliereli.ro to be despised or
„,. ], ,1. 1 I i'| The ris hi method ol" hue preling it, ib. Wll.it helps anil assistance- are , qui-
„l,: i ■ ' liar.) line ihe best interpreters ..I tins book ib. Ureal encouragement, however,
(„ ,i„. uitmc chewm, il..— Chap. 1. ver I— :s : com., in the title nl the book, Ihe and
d,.^ . , „t a an.l ihe h.roin; un Inn that i eaileth, ami on litem lliataueml In it. ib. V er. 4—8:
the ,'h .he men m l lie seven churches ol' Asia, ami a solemn preface to sIm.w the great amlmnty 01
• lie .liiiiie ei ealer, M i Ver the place, llie chile, anil manner ol the first t istnn. ih. The
ol.,, , l'.uai s, whither St. John - as haiiisheil in the reign of Nero more probably than that of
Jt. li.ni. 1 1 1. The arguments fortius opinion, 444—447. The Revelation given on the Lord's
The milliner ami circumstances of the first vision ib.— Chap. 11. 111. contain the
„,.;,.„ epistles in Ihe seven churches ol' Asia, 147— 4 6. Why these seven addressed par-
tj. iil ,r|v, ,..0. I hose epistles not prophetical but peculiar to the church ol that age, 4-il. The
, x, ,.|:,.;,t lor in and structure ol" the e epWIcs, ill. In what sense lliey 1110) be said to be pro.
iiheiicil. I i J Present state nl' the seven churches, 4M—4.")U. Of EplMwu»,4>4. 01 Smyrna,
i in' Pergamos, I a. OI'Thyatiru, lb. Of Sar.lis, 454. Of Philadelphia, 4j-i. Ol Lamlicea,
iii. Ce thai we are to make 1)1' these judgments, 4511. — CHAP. IV. the prcpuratury vision to
thi.'.gs which miisi be hereafter, J 7 ■ no scenery drawn in allusion to the oheamimieiil nl the
children of Israel in ihe wt|.ler:ic.,s, .mil lo the tabernacle or temple, 437.— Chap. V.acnn-
li!, u,, linn nl llie preparatory vision, in order in show the great importance ol ihe prophecies here
delivered, 4 8. Future events supposed lo be wrillen in a book, 4)11. This book sealed with
si. veil seals, signifying so many periods of prophecy, ib. The Son of Odd alone ipialilied to
open the seals," ml) Whereupon all creatures sing praises to God and lo Christ, ib.— Chap.
VI. ver. 1, J contain Ihe fi, si seal or period, memorable lor colupicst, ib. This period com-
lie iiees wilh Vespasian, includes the conquest of Judea, and continues during llie reigns nl'lha
I-'l.iv ian family ami the short reign ,,l" jNorva ib. Ver. :i, 4 : the second seal nr periud noted
f,r war and slaughter, 4iil Tins period conmtence.s with Trajan, 412. Cuniprcheiuis Ihe
h,,rri.l wars ami slaughters i f the Jews and Romans in the reigns of Trajan and Adrian, ib.
Cinliiiues during llie reigns of Trajan end his successors by blood or adoption, 11,3. Ver. ■>, G:
lie., ihird seal nr periud, characterized by the strict execution of justice, and by the procuration
of corn and nil and wine, ib. This period commences with Se| liinius Sevems. -If. 4. He and
Alexander Severus just and severe emperors, and no less celebrated for procuring eurn ami oil,
kc ib This period cunlinues during the reigns of the Sepliiniau family. 4,15. Ver. 7,8; the
fuurili sea! or period, distinguished by a concurrence of ev ils, war, and famine, and pestilence,
ami wild beasls, ib. This period commences with Ma\imin, ib. The wars of tins period, 466.
Tlie famines, ib. The pestilences, ib. 4li7. The wild beasls, ,1*17. This perind from Muxiiuin
to Diocletian, ib. Ver. .i— 1 i : ihe fifth seal or period, remarkable for a dreadful persecution of
:he Christians, 4'i ,, This the tenth ami last general persecution, begun by fJmrletian, ib.
From hence a memorable era, called the era of Diocletian, or era of martyrs, 4 i:i. Ver. 1 2 — 17 :
the sixih seal or period remarkable for great changes ami revolutions, expressed by great rom-
iii iinus in ihe earth and in the heavens, ib. Wo change greater then the suiiv ei >inii uf llie
Heathen, and establishment of the Christian Religion, ib. The like hetires of speech used by
oilier prophets, 4 if — 173. The same thing expressed afterwards in plainer language, 41 1. —
Chap VII. a continuation of the sixth seal or period, ib. A description of the peace of the
chinch in Cunstaiititie s time, 47-2. And of the great accession of converts lo it, 413. IS ol only
of ,1,-ws, but uf all nations, ib. This period from the reign of Conslanlioe the Great lo the dealh
of Theodnsius the Great. 474. — Chap. VIII. ver. i — 'i ; the seventh seal or period comprehends
seven periods distinguished by the sounding of seven trumpets, ib. The silence ut half an
huur previous tn the sounding of the trumpets, 475. As the seals foretold ihe suite uf ihe Ro-
man empire b fure and till il became Christian, so the trumpets foreshow the fate of it after-
wards, ib. The design of" the trumpets to rouse the nations against llie Roman empire. 476.
Ver. 7 : at the sounding of the first trumpet A lane and his Guilts invade the Roman empire, twice
oesiege Rome, and sel fire to it in several places, ib. Ver 8, 9 : at the sounding of the second
trumpet Auila and his Huus waste the Roman provinces, and compel the eastern emperor
Theodosius the Second, and the western emperor, Valentinian the Third, lo submit to shame-
ful terms, 477. Ver. 10, 11 ; at the sounding of the third trumpet Genseric and his Vandals
arrive from Africa, spoil and plunder Rome, and set sail again with immense wealth and innu-
merable captives, 478. Ver. 12: at the sounding of the fourth trumpet Odoacer and the Heruli
pul an end to the very name of the western empire, 479. Theodoric founds the kingdom of the
Ostrogoths in Italy, 18J. Italy made a province of the eastern empire, and Rome governed
by a duke under llie exarch of Ravenna, ib. Ver. 13 : ihe three following trumpets are dis
tinguished by the name of the wo-trumpets, and the two following relate chielly to Ihe down.
lall of the eastern empire, as the foregoing did lo the downfall of the western empire, ib
Chap. IX. ver. 1—12 : a prophecy of the locusts, or the Arabians under their false prophet Mo-
hammed, 481 — 198. At the sounding of the fifth trumpet a sta. fallen from heaven opens iha
bottomless pit, and the sun and air are darkened, 481. Mohammed filly compared lo a blazin"
siar, and the Arabians to locusts, 482. A remarkable coincidence, that at this lime [he sun an3
air were really darkened, ib. The command not to hurl any green thing, or any tree how
fulfilled, ib. Their commission to hurl only the corrupt and idolatrous Christians, how fill-
filled, 483. To mrment the Greek and Latin churches, but nol lo extirpate either, ib. Repulsed
as often as they besieged Constantinople, ib. These locusts described so as to show that not
real but figurative locusts were intended, ib. Likened unlo horses, and ihe Arabians famous in
all ages foriheir horses arid horsemanship, 484. Having on their heads as il were crowns like
gold, ib. Their faces as the faces of men, and hair as the hair or women, ib Their leelh as
ihe leeth of lions, then breastplates as it were breastplates of iron, and Ihe sound of their wings
as the sound or chariots, 413. Like unto scorpions, ib. Their king called the destroyer, ib.
rheir hurting men five months, how lo be understood, 486. Fulfilled in every possible con-
Mmciion. ib. Conclusion c! lids wo, 487. Ver. 13— 21 : a prophecy of the Euphratean horse,
men, or Turks and Othmans, 487, 438. At the sounding of the sixth trumpet the four angels or
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four sultnriins of the Turks and Othmans arc loosed from the river Euphrates.-, 4-8. In what
sense ih( y are said to he prepared lor an hour, and a day, and a monih, and a year, to slay the
thin) part of mm, I'm. Their numerous armies, anil especially tin ir dvaliy, 4 <]. Tht;ir
dcli-lil in scarlet, blue, and yellow, 102. Tim use of greiitgitns and gunpowder ami'H!| them
ih. Their power to do hurt hy their tails, or the poisonous train ol their religion, W.i. The
misi-ralilt: condition of the remains of the Greek chinch among them, ih. The Latin or western
eh reli not at all reclaimed hy the. ruin of the Greek or eastern church, but still per.-ist in their
idolatry and wickedness, ih.— Chap. X. a piepa.aiory vision to the prophecies relating to the
wesiei'ii church, 4!)l. The angel with the linle hook or codicil tu the larger hook ol' the
Apnralvpi-ir, A'*5. Tht." properly disposed under tlie sixth trumpet, to describe the state of the
we.-ten'i cliureh after the description of the stale of tl e eastern, ih. Cannot he known w hat
tldiiL's were meant hy the seven thunders, ih. Though the Utile hook describes the cilaudlies
of ihe western church, yet it is declared that they shall all have a happy period under the
Ft vein h trumpet, ih. St. John to publish the contents of this hula hook as well as the larger
book of the Apocalypse, <1!J6. — Chap. XL v«r. 1 — I I : The contents of the little honk, ih. The
meiisuriugof the temple to show that during all this period there were some true Christians,
who eourorined tu the rule and measure of God's word, 497. The church to he trodden under
foot hy Gentiles in worship and practice forty and two months, ib. Some true witnesses how-
ever, tn |i tile st against the corruplimts of religion, ib. Why sail) to be two witnesses, *93. To
prophesy in sackcloth, as long as the grand corruption itself lasted, ih. The character ol these
■witnesses, and of the power and effect of their preaching, lb. The passion, and death, and
resurrection, and ascension of (he witnesses, 4:i!». Some apply this prophecy ol' the death and
resurrection of the witnesses to John Hnssand Jerome of Prague, whose doctrine revived after
their death in their followers, 500. Others to the Protestant- of the league of Sinalcald, who
were entirely routed hy the emperor Charles V. in the battle of Mulburg, but upon the change
of alluirs the emperor was obliged by the treaty of l'assau to allow them the free exercise of
their religion, 5j1. Some agaiii to the massacre of the Protestants in France, and to Henry
III. 's afterwards granting them the free exercise of then religon, 001. Oihcr a again to later
events, Peter .1 in ieu to the persecution of the Protestants hy Lewis XIV., 15>h.p Lloyd and
Whistou to lite Duke of Savoy's persecution of the Protestants in the valleys of Piedmont, and
his re-establishing (hem afterwards, 502. In all these cases there may be some resemblance,
hut none of these is the last persecution, and therefore this prophecy remains yet to be fulfilled,
50.;. When ic shall be accomplished, the sixth trump l and the second wo shall end, ih. An
historical deduction to show that there have been some true witnesses, who have proiessed
doctrines cuntrary to those of the church of Rome, from ihe seventh century down to the Re-
fui ma i.m, Ol, Slc. Witnesses in the eighth century, 6u4 ? oQj. The emperors Leo Isaurieus
and Constantiiie Copronymus, and the council of Constantinople, 504. Ci arlemagne and the
council of Franklin i, 5Uo. The British churchesand Alcuin ib. The council of Forojulio, ih.
Pauliuus bishop of Aquileia, ih. Witnesses in the ninth century, 505—507. The emperors of
the east, IS'icephorus, Leo Armenios, &c. and the emperors of the west, Charles the Great, and
Lew is the Pious, 50 >. The council of Pans, ib. Agobard archbishop of Lyons, ib. Transub-
siantiation first advanced by Paschasius Uabbertus, and opposed by many learned men, 506.
Rabaiius Maurus, ib. Bertramus, ib. Johannes Scotus, 50 /. Angilbertus and the church of
Milan, ih. Claude bishop of Turin, ib. Witnesses in the tenth century, 50S — 510. State of
this century, ..OS. The council of Trosly, ib. Athelstau, ib. Elfere earl of Mercia, 509.
Heriger anil Alfric, ib. The council of Kheims. and Gilbert archbishop of Itheinis, 510.
Witnesses in the eleventh century, 510 — .12. Slate of this century, olO. William the Con-
queror, and William Rufus, ib. Heretics of Orleans, .ill. Heretics in Flanders, ib. Beren-
garius and his followers, ib. Ecclesiastics in Germany, &c. ib. The council of Winchester,
51 J. Witnesses in the twelfth century, >li — 517. The constitutions of Clarendon, 512. Fluen-
tius, ib. St. Bernard, ib. Joachim uf Calabria, 513. Peter de Bruis and Henry his disciple,
ib. Arnold of Brescia, ib. The Waldenses and Albigenses, 514. Their opinions, al5. Testi-
monies concerning this seel, 51 i — >17. Of Reinerius, the inquisitor-general, 516. Of Thua-
nus, ih. Of Mezeray, 517. Witnesses in the thirteenth century, 517 — 520. Farther account
of tin- Waldenses and Albigenses, .j17. Almeric and his disciples, olS. William ol St. Amour,
ib. Robert Grosthead or Greathead, bishop of Lincoln, 51.*. Matthew Pai is, ib- Witnesses
in the fourteenth century, 51. i — »22. Dame and Petrarch, 519. Peter Fitz Cassiodor, 520.
Michael Ctesenas and William Occam, ib. Marsilius of Padua ib. In Germany and England
the ffollards, ib. The famous John Wicklifl'e, ib. The Lollards' remonstrance to the parlia-
ment, -c.il. Witnesses in the fifteenth century, 522 — >2>. The followers of Wicklifle, 5-22.
William Sawtre, ib. Thomas BadLy, ib. Sir John Oldcastle, ib. In Bohemia, Ji hn Huss
ami Jerome of Prague, oj3. Opinions of the Bohemians or Hussites, 523 — o25. Jerome Savo
nurola, 525. In the sixteenth century the Reformation, 323. Hence an answer to the popish
question, Where was your religion before Luther: ib. Ver. 15 — IS: a summary account o.
the seventh trumpet and the third wo, the particulars will be enlarged upon hereafter, 526,
527. Conclusion of the first part, 528.
DISSERTATION XXV.
AN ANALYSIS OF THE REVELATION.
PAKT II.
The richt division of the Revelation into two parts, 528. This latter part an enlargement and
illustration of the former, 52.J. Ver. 19, of the eleventh chapter should have b^en made ver. 1
ol" the twelfth chapter, ib. — Chap. XII. ver. I — 0 : the church persecuted by the great red dragon
53 i — ,30. The church represented as a mother bearing children unto Christ, 530. The great
red dragon the Heathen Roman empire, 531. His jealousy ol the church from the beginning,
ib. Bin yet the church brought many children unto Christ, and in time such as were promoted
to the empire, 532. Constamine particularly who ruled all nations with a rod of iron, ib. The
woman's Might into the wilderness here anticipated cometh m properly afterwards, ib. Ver
7 — 2 : the war in heaven represents the contests between the Heathen and Christian religions,
6 '.13 — 535 The Christian prevails over the Heathen religion, 533 C'viisianiine himself and th
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Christians of 'lis time dnrrifcc his conquests under the same image, 534. Pull n'wwoa
tli'.n 'li hut '.'i' a sh Tt time, threatened to the inhabiters of the earth, lb. \ m • -* — • i : tne
,l r .. ; „,, deposed Mill persecutes the church, 533, 5:!li. Attempts to restore the Pagan, ami ruir,
the t'hn-lun reli -don, >.!■>. The church now under the protection o!' the empire, ill. 1 cr " i a lit
,i„. wilderness, ib. Immdaiioiis of barbarous nations excited to overw holm the
('i r ,.jj.,|„„, .yns, lint on the contrary the Heathen conquerors submit to the n liginn of
II,.' Mi,, | U , : christians, ib Another method of persecuting the church, ib.— Chap- XHI. yer.
I-.. i,i (!,,.,!,.<,- riufi, hi ol' the ten hornet! beast successor to the great red dragon, 537 — i4a. All,
I, "I l'apw- aodVrolestants, agree that the beast represents the Roman empire. ;W7. Khowil
1., ;,. ,, ,t p,i.mii inn christian, not imperial but papal Rome, ib. How sncresHU- to the great
r,.l ,'-,■„ ., .*•». How one of his heads was as it were wounded to death, and his deadly wound
w..< 1 1 I . il). The world, in submitting to tlte religion of the beast did in ciT.-et submit again
ic-. iv iginn of the dragon, 5.10. The beast perfectly like the little horn in Dmih-1. ilk A
| account of his blasphemies anil exploits, and how Inns to prevail ami prosper, >4l .
A iM.'O.nihir aeeonnt of his blasphemies, ib. His making war with the saints, and overcoming,
1.1, in. .ml so establishing his authority, Hi. An admonition to engage intention, ib. Some-
thi ig a ided bv way of consolation to 'the church, ib. Ver. 11—13: the description ot tin- two.
Iionied boast, '.MS— 310. The ten-homed beast, the Roman stale in general, tlie two-horned
1 1 .. . i ~ 1 1 lie Rouiaii clergy in particular, .VI:!. His rise, and power, and authority, o il. His pre-
re,,;.-. I miracles, oil. His making an image to the beast, 54"). What this imago of the beast
is. ih. His interdicts and excommunications, 54H. The number of the beast explained, aiS.—
dup MV. ver. 1—5: tiie slate of the true church in opposition to that ol' the beast. 5 >'.:.
Y,t. o, V: the first principal effort towards a reformation in the public opp,,-o[i,,n of empcior
an,l hMiops to the worship of saints and images in the eighth and ninth Conines. 552. Ver. 8
timelier eli'ort by ihe Waldenses and Albigenscs, who pronounced the chinch of Rome to be
the Annralvptic Bahvlnn, and denounced her destruction, 553. Ver. I.' — 13: tiie third etl'ort by
Mai 'iii Luther a nd h'is fell iw-refoi mors, who pr. tested against all I lie corruptions of the rliurrh
of 11, ,in,,. as destructive of salvation, 55-1 — 55(i. A solemn declaration from heaven to contort
tlo ui. a 11 ,\v the dead were blessed from henceforth, 555 — 557. Ver. I I — Ql: represent
the judgments of God upon the followers and adherents of the hen st under the fieures. lir-i of
harvest, then of vintage, 557. These judgments yet to be fulfilled, 558. — Chap. XV. a pre-
pa/ar u'y vision to the pouring out of the seven vials, 55ft — >6t. These seven l;j st pl;,-i;, . I.e.
long to t!ie seventh and last trumpet, or the third mid last wo trumpet- and e,n,s,-,[i,, i.ily are
n t yet fulfilled, 55!>. Seven angels appointed to pour out tlte seven vials, 5i,tl.--CilAP. \ V*I.
ver. 1 : tlie commission to pour out llie seven vials, which are so many steps of the ruin of the
Roman chercfi, as the trumpets were of the ruin of the Roman , iiipi-'e, mil. Rome resembles
Egypt in her punishments as well as in her crimes, ib. Ver. 2 : the first vial or plague, P .
Vti. a— T : the second ami third vials or plagues, 562. Ver. 8, !) : the fourth via! ,a plague, 5.:j
Ver. ki, II : the fifth vial or plague, ib. Ver. 12 — Hi : tlie sixth vial or plague, mi x .,01. Ver
17—21 : tlie. seventh or last vial or plague, 565. — Chap. XVII. flavin seen how Rome rt - eni-
bles Egypt in her plagues, we shall now see her fall compared to liahvlon, alii. Ver, I — 0;
an account premised of her slate and condition, ib. &c. St John called upon to see th ■ eon.
doinnarinii and execution rif tlie great whore. 5li7. This cbaraeier more proper to modern ihan
ancient Rome, ib. Her sitting upon a scarlet-coloured beast with seven heads and ten h"r..s,
otis. Her ornaments of purple and .scarlet colour, with gold and precious stones, ainl pearls,
ib. Her e ichanting cup, 5'i9. Her inscription upon her forehead, ih. Her living drunken with
the blood ol" the saints, 571. Ver. 7 — 13 : the angel explains the mysterv of [he woma and of
tiie beast that carried her, ib. &c. A general account of the beast and ids threefold stale, 572.
The even heads are explained primarily to signify the seven mountains on which Umur is
situated .37:1. Abo to signify seven forms of government, ib. What the five fallen, ill. What
the sixth, ih. What tlie seventh or eighth, 574. The ten horns explained to signify ten kings
or kingdoms, 575. Their giving their power anil strength unto the beast, ib. The exten-uvc-
ness of the power and dominion of Rome, ib. Tiie same kings, who helped to rai-e her. to
pull her down, 57G. The woman explained to signify the great city, or Rome, ib. — Chap.
XVIII. ver. 1--8 : a description of the fall and destruction of spiritual Babylon, 577. To be-
come the habitation of devils and foil spirits, 579. A warning to forsake her communion, ib.
To be. utterly burnt with fire, ib. Ver. 9.-20 : the consequences of her fall, the lamentations of
some, and rejoicings of others, 579. Ver. SI — 24: her utter desolation foretold, 5Mfc-ClMP.
XIX. ver. I— 10 : the church exhorted to praise God for his judgments upon her. 581. Her
smoke to rise up for ever and ever, 582. God also to be praised for the happv state of the re-
formed cured in this period ib. St John prohibited to worship the angel, a*'?,. Ver. 1 1 — -_> i ;
the vi' ti.ry and triumph of Christ over the beast and the false prophet. o8'i — ",Si.— t hap. Xx!
ver. 1 — 'i: Satan is bound, and the famous millennium commences, or the resurreeiiou of the
saints and their reign upon earth for a thousand years, 30.5. The millennium not vet fill-
filled, though the resurrection be taken figuratively, ib. But the resurrection to he under,
stood literally, 5S7. Other proph ts have foretold, that there shall be such a happv period
if the millennium, ib. St. John only, that the martyrs shall rise to p n-take of it, and that it
shall c, enme a thousand years, ib. Tlie Jewish and Christian church have both believed, that
those tinnisanil years will be the seventh millennaryof the world, ib. Quotations from Jewish
writ rs t , this purpose, ib. 5s7. From Christian writers, St. Barnabas. Justin Martyr, Teriulhan
La.-taiitins, See. 5*7— 541. How this doctrine grew afterwards into disrepute, 50.. Great call'
linn required in treating of it, ib. Ver. 7— 10: Satan to be lo ,.sed again, and to deceive the
nations, Gog and Magog, ib. fcc. How Gog and Magog are to be understood, 59:1 593 The
final overthrow of Satan. 514. Ver. 11—15: the general resurrection ai d judgment, and end
of ihe world, ih— Chap. XXI. ver. 1—3: the new heaven, the new earth, anil the new Jeru
stilem, aha. The new heaven, and the new earth to take place after the millennium, 596.
V-t. '— 27: a more particular description of the new Jerusalem, 598.— Cn \p XXII ver 1—5-
a continuation o, the description of the new Jerusalem, W> Ver. 6, 7 : a ratification and eon"
Urination i.lthe foregoing paaiculars, with a blessing upon those who keep the sayings ofthis
door, in. Ver s—21 : m the conclusion several particulars to confirm the divine authority of
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CONTENTS.
XI
this Kitik, fioi. This hook tli.it surf word of prophecy mentioned by St. Tctcr, fJOi, 003. A
double blessing upon tlio.se wliu study and i-b.-emr it, cO:t.
DISSKHTATION XXVI.
RKC APtTtf I.ATIOV OF TUB Hit OPiltXI K.4 It KI.ATISfC TO TOrilRT.
Popery heme rhe -.'real mrntption of Christianity, (h'-re are more pn i] diceies rclMiu:: to that than
tn almost ;iny mlii r di-mm event, Ooi. It is tlmuuhi propi r to represent these in one view, ih,
J. Ii i> foretold linn there should be such a pow< r as fli.it of tin: pope ainl chnreh '>[" Hume
u .iii pni in t!ir (.'In i -tiau world, ih. A tv ran idea I, idolatrous, ::tn\ Anta hri - lian power foretold,
ih. A trreai apo.-tacy in the church foretold, Ii0-i. This apo : |aey \>> n.i.-i.-t elderly in the, wor-
shipping of demons, angels, and departed t-aints, ih. Ti.c same, <h:ueh. that is guilty of this
iddliiiry, to forbid marriage and enjoin at stincuce fr«>ni in- ats, ih. Tin- po| i-v making litnist-Jf
equal and civiMi siipcrinr to <itnl, ih. Hi- cxn-iidiiii Lis an'ln-riiy and piri-dieiiou over several
coin iiricH and nations, OtiO. The power and riches of ihe e|er»y. ib. Tin 1 p-mp a nil .-pleminnr of
(heir ceremonies and vest me i Is, ih Thei; pel icy, ;nn! lie--, and pious iVa nil. il> T heir pretended
vision!! ami miracles, (107. Their excommunication id' heretic--, Hj. Tin ir making war wild
the ? ainl and prevailing aeatnst them, ih. Besides these direct, oilier more oblique prophecies,
ih. Babylon, Tyre, Kirypt, the types of Rome, ib. More frequent intiuiiiiioiis of papery in
the New Testament, fltK In our Saviour's caution in giving le nnur m his no tin r, ami in
rehukim: St. Peter, in Ins insi tuition of the last -upper, ih.~ In his repro\ \n<i so parneolarly the
vices of the Sci ibes and Pharisees, ib. In his prohibitions of implicit fiith and obedii-ncf, of
the worshipof ain'els, of all pretences to works of merit and supererogation, of Inrdinir it over
God's Inn itnue, of the serv ice of God in an unknown tongue, &c, 009. In St. Paul's admon-
ishing the Romans to beware of apostacy, 010. In St. Peter's and St. Jude's description of
false teachers, ib. In St. Paul'? predh iron id' the corruption of the last days, tb. II. Mot only
foretold that there sliould be such a power, but the place and the persons likewise are pointed
out, ih. In Daniel's description of the little born which only one person in the world can fully
answer, ib. Daniel's character of the blasphemous kin*r, which agrees better with the head
of the Roman, than with the head of the Greek church, till. In St. Paul's portrait of the man
of sin, Hi 2. In St. John's vision of the ten-horned beast, and of the woman lidim: r.i on the
bea^t, 013, Several arguments to show that not pagan, hut papal Rome was intended, ib.
III. Besides the place anil the persons, the time also is signified of thi- tyrannical | ower. w lien,
and Ii'iw luijir, fil l. To arise in the latter, days of the Roman empire, Hl."i. To » revail ['XV
year-. »i ] ' i . The hcgiimin:: of these IJo'O 'years not to be dated too early, ib. To he fixed ir.
the ej-hth century, and probably in the year 7:i7, ih. IV. The fall and destruction of this anV-
christian power, HIT. The second wo of the Otliman empire must end, before the third wo car.
be | on red out upon the kingdom of the beast, t>lS. The divine judgments Uj on the kingdom
of the beast, displayed under a varwty of figures and representations, ib. Antichrist and his
seat both to be destroyed by fire, 019. About the time of the fall of the Othman enij ire and oi
the Christian Antichrisr, the conversion and restoration of the Jews, bit). The proj er on'e?
ot these events, 621. After the destruction of Antichrist the glorious millennium commences,
or the kingdom of Christ upon earth lor a thousand years, 022. Best to forbeai all curious in-
quiries into this subject, ib. After the thousand years and the general judgment, the world to
be destroyed, and the new heaven and the new earth to succeed, 6-23. Conclusion ; r he cor-
ruptions of popery being so particularly foretold, we have the less reason to be surprised and
offended at them, ib. The gospel will finally prevail over all enemies and opposers, ib.
CONCLUSION.
From these instances of the truth of prophecy may be inferred the truth of revelation, 624. A
summary view of the prophecies now fulfilling in the world, 625. A large quotation from Dr.
Clarke tending to confirm and illustrate the same subject, t>2'S — 632. No room for any possible
forgery of the prophecies, 034. The harmony, variety, and beauty of the prophetic writings,
jb. Tlionch some parts are obscure for good reasons, yet others are sufficiently clear arid the
perfect completion will produce a period understaudimiof all the prophecies, ib. Human learn-
big requisite to explain the prophecies, and particularly a competent kii"wtedge of history,
OJ.). The patrons of infidelity are only pretenders to learning and knowledge, ih. Modern
infidelity worse even than that of the Jews, ib So many instances of proj hecies and their
completions, the strongest attestations of a divine revelation, o: (j. Miracles and other proofs
of the truth of the Christian religion, ib. Prophecies accomplished the greatest of all nnracleg.
637. Conclusion, ib.
G
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£r.crNPA pars (! listeria; ecclesiastic-re) quae est hist on a nd pro-
pln'ti.1--, i;x duoluis relativis consial, prophetia ipsa el ejus adira-
pK'iioiif. Qnapropter tale esse debet hujus operis inslitntum, ut
cuiii singulis ex Seripturis proplietiis eventuum Veritas conjun-
iratur; idque per omnes mundi atates, turn ad confirmationem
ildei, turn ad instituendam disciplinam quandam et peritiam in
interpretatione prophet iarum, quae adhuc restant complendre.
Atteinen in liac re, admit lenda est ilia latitudo, qua? divinis vati-
ciniis propria est et familiaris; ut adimpletiones eorum non fiant
et coiiiiiienter et punctualiter: refurunt enim auctoris sni naturam ;
" eni uiius dies tnnquam mille anni, et mille anni tanquam unus
dies Atqiie licet plenitudo et fastigium complementi eorum,
plerumque alieui cerlas a:tati vol etiam certo mom_'nto destine-
tur ; attamen liabent, interim gradus nonnullos et c:alas comple-
ment!, per diversas mundi a;tates. Hoc opus depiclerari statuo,
vcruin tale est, ut magna cum sapientia, sobrietate et, reverentia
traciaudum sit, aut oninino dimitlendum.
Eacon lie Augmentis Scientiarum. 1. 2, C 11.
Digitized by the Center for Adventist Research
INTRODUCTION.
One of the strongest evidences for the truth of revealed religion is that penes oj
prnphc cifs which is preserved in the Old and New Testament ; iirul a greatei
service perhaps could not ho dono to < -hristianity than to lay to^-tlntr the several
predictions of Scripture, with their connections, to show how particularly things
nave Iven foretold, and how exactly fulfilled. A work of this kind was desired Ijj
the 1 ami Bacon in his * Advancement of Learning, and he entitleth it The Wstorij
of PrDp'if.nj, and therein would have * every prophecy of the Scripture he sorted
with the event fulfilling the same throughout the ages of the world, both for the
belter confirmation of faith,* as lie saith, 'and for the better illumination of the
church, touching those parts of prophecies which are yet unfululled : allowing
nevertheless that latitude which is agreeable and familiar unto divine prophecies,
beinir of the nature of the Author, with whom a thousand years are but as one day,
and therefore they are not fulfilled punctually at once, but have springing and
£erminant accomplishment throughout many ages, though the heighth or fulness
of them may refer to some one age.'
Such a work would indeed he a wonderful confirmation of our faith, it being the
prerogative of (rod alone, or of those who are commissioned by him, certainly to
forctrl future events j and the consequence is so plain and necessary, from the be-
lieving <>f prophecies to the brlioving of revelation, that an infidel hath no way of
evading the conclusion but by deriving the premises. But why should it be thought
at all incredible for t.iod upon special occasions to foretel future events ? or bow
could a divine revelation (only supposing that there was a divine revelation) be
better attested and confirmed than by prophecies ? It is certain tint God hath
perfect and most exact knowledge of futurity, and foresees all things to come as
well as comprehends every thing past or present. It is certain too that as he
knoweth them perfectly himself, so he may reveal them to others in what degrees
and proportions he pleaseth; and that he actually hath revealed them in several
instances, no man can deny, every man must acknowledge, who compares the
several prophecies of Scripture with the events fulfilling the same.
But so many a^es have passed since the spirit of prophecy hath ceased in the
world, that several persons are apt to imagine, that no such thing ever existed, and
that what we call predictions are only histories written, after the events had hap-
pened, in a prophetic style and manner: which is easily said indeed, hut hath
never been proved, nor is there one tolerable argument to prove it. On the con-
trary, there are all the proofs and authorities, which can be had in cases of this
nature, that the prophets prophesied in such and such ages, and the events hap-
pened afterwards in such and such ages : and you have as much reason to believe
these, as you have to believe any ancient matters of fact whatever ; and by the
same rule that you deny these, you might as well deny the credibility of all ancient
history.
But such is the temper and genius of infidels ; " they understand neither what
they say, nor whereof they affirm," (1 Tim. i. 7;) and so betray their own igno-
rance, rather than acknowledge the force of divine truth ; and assert things without
the least shadow or colour of proof, rather than admit the strongest proofs of divine
revelation. It betrays ignorance indeed, altogether unworthy of persons of lineral
education, not to know when such and such authors flourished, and such and such
remarkable events happened ; and it must be something worec than ignorance to
assert things without the least shadow or colour of proof, contrary tr all the
marks and characters by which we judge of the truth and genuineness of ancient
authors, contrary to the whole tenor of history both sacred and profane, which in
this respect give wonderful light and assistance to each other : and yet these are
* Boufc the 2d. in English.
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INTRODUCTION.
the- men. win wniiV I"' ImiwM I' 1 scr farther anil to know more than oilier people,
an ,| „ ,;| | H .;„.,,. uotlnej without evident proof ami demonstration.
'I'd,, i;,,t-, siv i)iev. " ere prior to the predictions, and the prophecies were
writ:, -i !,;vr'tiM-'lii-l<>(i'-.<. lhit what if we should be able to prove the troth of
v . r) -,,! couseipicntlv the troth of revelation, not by an induc tion of particu
1 .' .,' i:, r , t . .:< I and I'oiifi ago fulfilled, Hie predietions, whereof you may there-
|„ have been written after the liistories, but by instances of tilings
u ; .. ...n, , ,,nf,sseillv many ages a pro been fo; child, and have in these latter apes
ii t, i., :i . d. or are I'lillillinsf at this very time ; so that you cannot possibly pre-
» • ,, ;.i ,>phecies to have been written "after the events, but most acknowledge
>:,•• ■ \ ids inanv ages after to correspond exactly with the predictions many ages
1m f., r .- : This I'irovinee we will now enter upon, this task wo will undertake, and
wii! oulv produce instances of things fori told with the greatest clearness in
s : , * preceding, and fultilled with the greatest, exactness in ages following, if there
i- am Itnlh in'liistory sacred or profane; but *'C will also (to cut up the objection
ciit'ivh !>v the roots.') insist chielly upon such prophecies, as are known to have
be. 11 \nri.'!i and published in books many ages ago, and yet are receiving their
coiiij.lt Moll, ill part at least, at this very day.
For this is one great excellency of the evidence drawn from prophecy for the
truth of religion, that it is a growing evidence; and the more prophecies are ful-
fill, -d, the in.. re testimonies there are and confirmations of the truth and certainty
of divine revelation. And in this respect we have eminently the advantage
over those, who lived even in the days of Moses and the prophets, of Christ
and his apostles. They were happy indeed in hearing their discourses and seeing
their miracles, and doubtless " many righteous men have desired to see those things
w hich thev saw and have not seen them, and to bear those things which they heard
and have not. heard them," (Matt. xiii. 17 :) but yet I say we have this advantage
over them, that several things which were then only foretold, are now fulfilled ; and
what w ere to them only matters of faith, are become matters of fact and certainty
to us. upon whom the latter ages of the world arc come. God in his goodness hath
aflbrded to everv age sufficient evidence of the truth. Miracles may be said to
have been the great proofs of revelation to the first ages who saw them performed.
Prophecies may be said to be the great proofs of revelation to the last ages who see
them t'u I Idled. All pretence too for denying the prophecies of Scripture is by these
means absolutely precluded ; for how can it be pretended that the prophecies were
Written after the events, when it appears that the latest of these prophecies were
written and published in books near 1700 years ago, and the events have, inanv of
them, been accomplished several ages after the predictions, or perhaps are accom-
plishing in the world at this present time? You are therefore reduced to this nc-
c»ssitv, that you must either renounce your senses, and deny what you read in
your B hle^, together with w hat you may see and observe in the world : or else must
acknowledge the truth of prophecy, and in consequence of that, the truth of divine
revelation.
M any of the principal prophecies ol Scripture will by these means come under
our consideration, and these may be best considered with a view to the series and
order of time. The subject is curious as it is important, and will be very well
woith mi/ [iains and your attention: and though it turn chiefly upon points of
learning, yet 1 shall endeavour to render it as intelligible, anil agreeable, and
edifying as I can to all sorts of readers. It is hoped the work will prove the more
generally acceptable, as it will not consist merely of abstract speculative divinity,
but will be enlivened with a proper intermixture of history, and will include several
of the most material transactions from the beginning of the world to this day.
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NEWTON
ON THE
PROPHECIES.
I. — noah's prophecy.
THE first prophecy that occurs in Scripture, is that, part of
the sentence pronounced upon the serpent, which is, as I
may say, the first opening of Christianity, the first promise of our
redemption. We read in Genesis, (iii. 15,) "I will put enmity
between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her
seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shah bruise his heel."
If you understand this in the sense which is commonly put upon it
by Christian interpreters, you have a remarkable prophecy and
remarkably fulfilled. Taken in any other sense, it is not worthy
of Moses, nor indeed of any sensible writer.
The history of the antediluvian times is very short and concise,
and there a>-e only a few prophecies relating to the deluge. As
Noah was a preacher of righteousness to the old world, so he
was a prophet to the new, and was enabled to predict the future
condition of his posterity, which is a subject that upon many
accounts requires a particular discussion.
It is an excellent character that is given of Noah, (Gen. v. 9,)
" Noah was a just man, and perfect in his generations, and
Noah walked with God." But the best of men are not without
their infirmities ; and Noah, (Gen. ix. 20, 21,) having "planted a
vineyard and drank of the wine," became inebriated, not know-
ing perhaps the nature and strength of the liquor, or being
through age incapable of bearing it : and Moses is so faithful
an historian, that he records the failings and imperfections of
the most venerable patriarchs, as well as their merits and vir-
tues. Noah in this condition lay " uncovered within his tent :
and Ham the father of Canaan saw the nakedness of his father,"
(ver. 21, 22 ;) and instead of concealing his weakness, as a
good-natured man or at least a dutiful son would have done, he
cruelly exposed it "to his two brethren without," (ver. 22.)
" But Shera and Japheth," more compassionate to the infirmi-
ties of their aged father, " took a garment and went backward"
2
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HlHiloP NEWTON
with -u !i :\r rp v ;intl respect, that "they saw not the naked-
n „;• • f;i ' !ht" m! the same lime that" they covered it, (ver.
> ) Wli.-n Noah awoke from his wine," lie was informed
i.f •• w'n.il his yotimrer sun Irol done unto him," (ver. 24.) The
w..:,| i:i ill-- eriirinal simiihVs his little son : and some *coinmen-
■ ■!•!;■- ilnTi-fore. on account of what follows, have imagined that
(";,'rt;m joined with his fnljier [Tain in til is mockery and insult
mi ui Noah ; and the P J<- wish rabbins have a tradition, that Ca-
n'i:i:i was ihe lirst who saw Noah in this posture, and then went
a:id called his faiher Ham, and concurred with him in ridiculing
an-! exposing the old man. But this is a very arbitrary method
11.' interpretation : no mention was made before of Canaan and
of wha! lie had done, but only of "Ham the father of Canaan;"
and of him therefore must the phrase of llllle son or youngest son
iv naturally and necessarily understood.
In eon-vqneni-c of this different behaviour of his three sons,
Noah as a patriarch was enlightened, and as the father of a
family who is to reward or punish his children was empowered,
to foretel the different fortunes of their families : for this prophecy
relates not so much to themselves, as to their posterity, the
people and nations descended from them. He was not prompted
by wine or resentment; for neither the one nor the other could
infuse the knowledge of futurity, or inspire him with the pre-
science of events, which happened hundreds, nay thousands of
years afterwards. But God, willing to manifest his superintend-
ence and government of the world, endued Noah with the spirit
of prophecy, and enabled him in some measure to disclose the
purposes of his providence towards the future race of mankind.
At the same time if. was some comfort and reward to Shem and
.lapheth, for their reverence and tenderness to their father, to
hear of the blessing and enlargement of their posterity ; and it was
some mortification and punishment to Ham, for his mockery and
cruelty to his father, to hear of the malediction and servitude of
«"i:ne of his children, and that as he was a wicked son himself, so
a wieked race should spring from him.
This then was Noah's prophecy : and it was delivered, as 'most
nf the ancient prophecies were delivered, in metre for the help of
the memory. (Gen. ix. 25 — 27.)
1 ka'rui, pirvii, minnr. minimnn.
3 ' lliii" |ir'.l»:tliilih:r filli^imr cum fuisse
t . -i i • r ii i' iiiMjiiuntu Aociuin.' Piscator aimd
i' n.
_ 3 Vi.l, Orirfii. in (lenesim. p. 33, vol. 2.
K l.-'t. 1 S' ■ r i»-T . ' ()|ii;i<i-i- qua-mur, cur
("'.Jiini tn:il.-.lK-iinn<-m in caput filii Oha-
n.i ii r.,niors.-ni. Respondct TVodori'tus
mi <!■ •»»*. quant. .57, ah H' lir.i ii quodam »e
fli'j'i s^i' [ennuin Chaiiaaii avi sni verenda
Miltnailverti^c, et putri iistenusse, tan-
qtmm de sene riden'em. Et, vero tale quid
leaitur in Beresith Rabba sect. 37, qui liber
scriptus fuit diu ante Theodiirctum.' Bo-
charii Phalcj. I. 4. c. 37, coi. 308.
4 The reader may see this point, proved
at larnc in the very ingenious and learned
Mr. Archdeacon Lowth's poetical Preelec-
tions, (parlicularly Prtrlect. 18,) &c. a
work that merits the attention of all who
study the Hebrew language, and of the
clergy especially.
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ON THE PROPHECIES. 15
" Cursed be Canaan ;
A servant, of servants shall lie be unto his brethren.
Blessed be Jehovah the God of Shem ;
And Canaan shall be their servant.
God shall enlarge Japheth,
And shall dwell in the tents of Shem,
And Canaan shall be their servant."
Canaan was the fourth son of Ham according- to the order
wherein they are mentioned in the ensuing chapter. And for
what reason can you believe that Canaan was so particularly
marked out for the curse? for his father Ham's transgression "1
But where would be the justice or equity to pass by Ham him-
self with the rest of his children, and to punish only Canaan
for what Ham had committed 1 Such arbitrary proceedings are
contrary to all our ideas of the divine perfections ; and we may
say in this case what was said in another, (Gen. xviii. 25,)
" Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right 1" The curse was
so far from being pronounced upon Canaan for his father Ham's
transgression, that we do not read that it was pronounced for
liis own, nor was executed till several hundred "years after hia
death. The truth is, the curse is to be understood not so pro-
perly of Canaan, as of his descendants to the latest generations.
It is thinking meanly of the ancient prophecies of scripture,
and having very imperfect, very unworthy conceptions of them,
to limit their intention to particular persons. In this view the
ancient prophets would be really what the Deists think them,
little better than common fortune-tellers ; and their prophecies
would hardly be worth remembering or recording, especially
in so concise and compendious a history as that of Moses. We
must affix a larger meaning to them, and understand them not
of single persons, but of whole nations ; and thereby a nobler
scene of things, and a more extensive prospect will be opened
to us of the divine dispensations. The curse of servitude pro-
nounced upon Canaan, and so likewise the promise of blessing
and enlargement made to Shem and Japheth, are by no means to
be confined to their own persons, but extend to their whole
race; as afterwards the prophecies concerning Ishmael, and
those concerning Esau and Jacob, and those relating to the
twelvo patriarchs, were not so properly verified in themselves
as in their posterity, and thither we must look for their full and
perfect completion. The curse therefore upon Canaan was
properly a curse upon the Canaanites. God foreseeing the
wickedness of this people, (which began in their father Ham,
and greatly increased in this branch of his family, ) commissioned
Noah to pronounce a curse upon them, and to devote them to
the servitude and misery, which their more common vices and
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lli
151*1 IOP NEWTON
iniquities would deserve. And litis account was plainly written
|.v M'-,-, lor iln' encouragement of the Israelites, to support
;.";„! .iniiiiati' iln'iii in their expedition against a people, who by
i!;, , -in- had forfeited the divine protection, and were destined
l.i .',i\er\ in. in I he days of Noah.
U, i ) it- purport and meaning of the prophecy, and now
). i n- attend to 1 1 if completion of it, "Cursed lie Canaan;"
;.i„| ihe Canaaiiiics appear 1o have been an abominably wicked
i !,;,•. The -in and punishment, of (lie inhabitants of Sodom
,' ;,d ('•< Tali and the cities of (he plain are too well known to
be particularly specified: and for the other inhabitants of the
land, which was promised lo Abraham and his seed, God bore
Willi lli. an " till their iniquity was full," (Gen. XV. 1(3.) They
were not only addicted to idolatry, which was then the case of
the greater part of the world, but were guilty of the worst sort
of idolatry; "for every abomination to the Lord, which he
haieth, ha\e they done unto their gods; for even their sons and
their (laughters they have burnt in the lire to their gods," (Dent.
\ii. 31.) Their religion was bad, and their morality (if possible)
w as worse ; for corrupt religion and corrupt morals usually
generate each other, and go hand in hand together. Read the
KSih and the 20th chapters of Leviticus, and you will find that
unlawful marriages and unlawful lusts, witchcraft, adultery,
incest, sodomy, bestiality, and the like monstrous enormities,
were frequent and common among them. And was not a curse
in the nature of things, as well as in the just judgment of God,
deservedly entailed upon such a people and nation as this] It
was not "for their own righteousness that the Lord brought
the Israelites into possess the land : but for the wickedness of
these nations did the Lord drive them out," (Deut. ix. 4:) and
be would have driven out the Israelites in like manner for the
very same abominations, (Levit. xviii. 24, 25, 26, 28, 29.) "De-
file not yourselves in any of these things; for in all these the
nations are defiled which I cast out before you. And the laud is
defiled : therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the
land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants. Ye shall therefore
keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any
of these abominations — That the land spue not you out also
w hen ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before
you. For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations,
even the souls that commit them, shall be cut off from among
their people."
Hut the curse particularly implies servitude and subjection.
" Cursed be Canaan ; a servant of servants shall he be unto his
brethren." It is very well known that the word brethren ir.
Hebrew comprehends more distant relations. The descendants
therefore of Canaan were lo be subject to the descendants cf
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
17
both Shem and Japhcth: and tlie natural consequence of vice,
in communities as well as in single persons, is slavery. The
same lliing is repeated again and again in the two following
verses, "and Canaan shall be servant to them," or their servant;
so that this is as it were the burden of the prophecy. Some
'critics take the phrase of servant of servants strictly and lite-
rally, and say that the prediction was exactly fulfilled, when
(he Canaanif.cs became servants to the Israelites, who had been
servants to the Egyptians. But this is refilling loo much ; the
phrase of 'servant of servants is of the same turn and cast as holy
of holies, king of kings, song of songs, and the like expressions in
Scripture ; and imports that they should be the lowest and basest
of servants.
We cannot be certain as to the time of the delivery of this
prophecy; for the history of Moses is so concise, that it hath
not gratified us in this particular. If the prophecy was de-
livered soon after the transactions, which immediately precede
in the history, (Gen. ix. 20,) Noah's "beginning to be a husband-
man, and planting a vineyard," it was soon after the deluge,
and then Canaan was prophesied of before he was horn, as it
was prophesied of Esau and Jacob, (Gen. xxv. 23,) " the elder
shall serve the younger," before the children "were born and
had done either good or evil," as St. Paul saith, (Rom ix. 11.)
If the prophecy was delivered a little before the transactions
which immediately follow in the history, it was a little before
Noah's death, ami he was enlightened in his last moments as
Jacob was, to "foretell what should befall his posterity in the
latter days," (Gen. xlix. 1.) However this matter be determined,
it was several centuries after the delivery of this prophecy, when
the Israelites, who were descendants of Shem, under the com-
mand of Joshua, invaded the Canaanites, smote above thirty of
their kings, took possession of their land, slew several of the
inhabitants, made the Gibeonites and others servants and tribu-
taries ; and Solomon afterwards subdued the rest. (2. Chron.
viii. 7 — 9.) "As for all the people that were left of the Hittites,
and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the
Jebusites, which were not of Israel ; but of their children who
were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel
consumed not ; them did Solomon make to pay tribute until
this day. But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no
servants for his work : but they were men of war, and chief of
5 * Noa Chamum exsecratus praedixerat Buorura libertus, servorumque aerrut : spe-
fore tit ejus posteri servi essent servorum : cinsis invidens ut pareret humiilimis.'
atque id inipletura in Chanangeis, turn Velleius Paterc. ii. 73. Hie vero valet
cum subire coucti sunt Israelitarum jugura poetremtm servorum. Vid. Sallust. Fragm.
qui Jigyptiis diu servierant.' Bocharti Id. Velleius, ii. 83. ' Infra servos eliens.'
Phaleg. 1. I.e. 1, col. 3, 4. — From some MS. notes of Mr. Wasse's in
6 'S. Pompeius, studiis rudis, Hbertorum the hands of Dr. Jortin.
2* C
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18 III SHOP NEWTON
hi- captain--, n ml captains of his chariots and horsemen." The
Creek- .-mil Unmans too, who wen: descendants of .hipbath, not
,,nl\ -ubdiied Hyria and Palestine, hut also pursued and con-
quered -u.-li of ihe Canaanitcs as were any wliero remaining', as
l., r in-ian.-e llie Tvrians and Carthaginians, the former of whom
u , ,,. mined hv Alexander and the (Jrecians, and 1.1k; latter by
S-ipu and the Unmans. ' This late,' says 'Mr. Mede, ' was it
ili;,' nude I lannihal, a. child of Canaan cry out with the amaze-
m.-ni of Iih soul, " Agnoseo forluuani Carthagini*," / acknowledge
l. <ir fm-lmir of (;«)•///(( And ever since I ho miserable remainder
of 1 1 lis people luive been slaves to a foreign yoke, first to the
Siracens, who descended from Shorn, and afterwards to the
Turks who den-ended from Japhel.h ; and they groan under
their dominion at I his da v.
Hitherto we have explained the prophecy according to the
present copies of our Hihle ; hut if we were to correct the text,
as we should any ancie nt, classic author in a like case, the whole
perhaps might ho made, easier and plainer. Ham the, father of
Canaan is mentioned in the preceding part of the story; and
how then came the person of a sudden to bo changed into
Canaan? The "Arabic version in these three verses hath the
father of Canaan instead of Canaan. Some 9 copies of the Sep-
luagiul likewise have Ham instead of Canaan, as if Canaan
was a corruption of the text. Vat abhis and others' oy Canaan
understand the father of Canaan, which was expressed twice
before. And if we regard the metro, this lino "Cursed be
Canaan," is much shorter than the rest, 2 as if something was
' M-.b 's Work.-, !>. 1, disc 50, p. 281. fellow of Clare Hall in Cambridge; who
Lr. v, 1. *7, in line, is admirably well skilled in liie Hebrew
" " Male.iniiH paler Canaan," &c. Arab. language anil Hebrew metre, and halh given
3 '' L. s S"|!!aiite d.ins cpiel.pi.s e\em- abundant proofs of bis knowledge and judg-
pluir«'s ail lien ile Canaan, lisi'nt Cbam, monl in Ihcso mailers in his new translation
•' ••"">•• -' T 1 ' I"" 1 '- Canaan etoit and commentary nn the song of Deborah,
c iri 11 •' Calmet on the text. So A ins- the prayer of Habakkuk, &c. He asserts,
wortli too. ibat according to Bishop Hare's meiie, the
1 'Clml-mi snliandinnt i-x pitrr, nnod words ham alii arc necessary u, fill up the
pan!., ami' bis evpresunn est, Malcdictns verse. He [imposes a farther emendation
i 'ham pai. r ChanaM.eonini.' Valab. in lo- of the text, by ihe omission of one line, and
. . •In 1 transposition of anolber, and would read
' My su-pn-inn bath sinee been confinneit the whole prophecy thus, according to the
»$ the reverend and learned Mr. Union, metre.
And Noah said,
Cursed |,e Ham lite father of Canaan ;
A servant of servants shall lie be lo bis brethren.
And be said,
)!!essed be Jehovah the Rod of Rhnm ',
For be shall dwell in the li nts of Shclll.
<;•••! enlarge Japhelh ;
Anil Canaan shall be their servant.
If yon will not allow this mn.-i. lalion to be to every part its just weight and proportion.
ri,.l,l «nd certain, yt I think yon must allow Or the whole may, will, only a transposition,
il io tie probable and i- geoems, to render and without any emission, be represented
tue sea™ clearer and plainer, and to give thus
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
19
deficient. May we not suppose therefore, (without taking such
liberties as Father Houbigant hath wiih llie Hebrew text,) that
ihe copyist by mistake wrote only Canaan instead of Ham the
father of Canaan, and that the whole passage was originally
thus? And Ham the father of Canaan saw the nakedness of his
father, and told his two brethren without. — Jlnd Noah awoke from
his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. Jlnd
he said, Cursed be Ham the father of Canaan ; a servant of ser-
vants shall he be unto his brethren. Jlnd he said, Blessed be the
Lord God of Shem ; and Ham the father of Canaan shall be ser-
vant to them. God shall enlarge Japheth ; and he shall dwell in the.
tents of Shem ; and Ham the father of Caneian shall be servant to
them.
By this reading all the three sons of Noah are included in
the prophecy, whereas otherwise Ham, who was the offender,
is excluded, or is only punished in one of his children. Ham
is characterized as the father of Canaan particularly, for the
greater encouragement of the Israelites, who were going to
invade the land of Canaan: and when it is said, Cursed be Ham
the father of Canaan ; a servant of servants shall he be unto his
brethren; it is implied that his whole race was devoted to servi-
tude, but particularly the Canaanites. Not that this was to take
effect immediately, but was to be fulfilled in process of time,
when they should forfeit their liberties by their wickedness.
Ham at first subdued some of the posterity of Shem, as Canaan
sometimes conquered Japheth ; the Carthaginians, who were
originally Canaanites, did particularly in Spain and Italy; but
in time they were to be subdued, and to become servants to Shem
and Japheth ; and the change of their fortune from good to bad
would render the curse still more visible. Egypt was the land of
Ham, as it is often called in Scripture; and for many years it
was a great and flourishing kingdom ; but it was subdued by
the Persians, who descended from Shem, and afterwards by the
Grecians, who descended from Japheth ; and from that time to
this it hath constantly been in subjection to some or other of the
posterity of Shem or Japheth. The whole continent of 3 Africa
was peopled principally by the children of Ham : and for how
And Noah said,
Cursed be Ham the father of Canaan ;
A servant of servants shall he be to his brethren.
And he said,
Blessed be the Lord God of Shem,
For he shall dwell in the tents of Shem ;
And Ham the father of Canaan shall be their servant.
God shall enlarge Japheth,
And Ham the father of Canaan shall be their servant.
* "Cham licet maledictus, non tamen .rEgyptum atque Africam universam Syria
tuit exclusus a terrenis benedictionibus — magna pars obtigit, &c.' Bocharti Phaleg.
Quippe in mundi divisione, illi prater 1. 4, c. 1, col. 203.
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BISHOP NEWTON
nianv - have lite belter parts of that country lain under the
Ju'.i'ii ,,|' ili:' l.'omans, and tlicn of the Saracens, and now of
Turk- '. in w 1 1 < • 1 wicked nes~, ignorance, barbarity, slavery,
|,..,- i.io<l of the inhabitants'! and of the poor negroes
>,,,,., i"iia;i\ hundreds eveiy year are sold and bought. like beasts
... ;h.' in ,'ikei, and are conveyed from one quarter of the world to
(',,, « i.rk of bra-is in another ]
\ iilnnir can be more complete than the execution of the
m. nrc upon Hum as well as upon Canaan: and now let us
inn-iilcr the promises made to Slum and Japheth. "And he
sail, (<.Yn. iv. 2t>,) Messed be (be Lord God of Shem ; and
Canaan >\\d\\ be bis servant:" or rather, and Canaan shall be
urniiit to thriu, or their servant, that, is to his brethren ; for that,
,-.s we observed before, is the main part of the prophecy, and
therefore i-t so frequently repeated. A learned 4 critic in the
lb-brew language, who hath lately published sonic remarks on
the printed Hebrew text, sail h that 'if it should be thought
preferable to refer the word blessed directly to Slum, as the word
rarscd is to Canaan, the words may be (and perhaps more per-
tinently) rendered — Blessed of Jehovah, my God, be Shem ! See
fien, x\iv. 31.' Or if we choose (as most perhaps will choose)
la follow our own as well as all the ancient versions, we may
observe that the old patriarch doth not say Blessed be Shem, as
be said, Cursed be Canaan; for men's evil springeth of them-
selves, but their good from God: and therefore in a strain of
devotion breaking forth into thanksgiving to God as the author
of all r;ood to Shem. Neither doth he say the same to Japheth ;
for God certainly may dispense his particular favours according
to his good pleasure, and salvation was to be derived to mankind
through Shem and bis posterity. God prefers Shem to his elder
brother Japheth, as Jacob was afterwards preferred to Esau, and
David to his elder brothers, to show that the order of grace is not
always the same as the order of nature. The Lord being called
the God of Shem particularly, it is plainly intimated that the Lord
would be his God in a particular manner. And accordingly the
church of God was among the posterity of Shem for several gene-
ration-; and of "them (Rom. ix. 5,) as concerning the flesh
Christ came."
Hut si ill Japheth was not dismissed without a promise. (Gen.
iv. 47,) "God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the
tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be servant to them," or their
servant. " God shall enlarge Japheth." Some render the word
(it is so rendered in the margin of our Bibles) God shall per-
suade or allure Japheth, so that he shall come over to the true
religion, "and dwell in the tents of Shem." But the 5 best
* Sne rCnnnicntCs Dissertation, p. 561.
i Bocliani Piial-g. I. 3, c. 1. col. 149. Clcricus in loc. &c.
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
<■-! it ics in the language have remarked, besides other reasons,
thai, llioy who I muriate the word by persuade or allure, did not
consider, flint when it is so taken, it is used in a bad sense,
mid governs an accusative case, and not a dative as in this
place. "God shall enlarge Japhelh," or itnlo Japhelh is the
k>si rendering; and in t lie original there is a manifest allusion
!•) Jnphelh's name, such as is familiar to the Hebrew writers.
As it. was said of Noah, (Gen. v. 29,) "This same shall comfort
ns," the name of JVoa/t being thought to signify comfort : As it
is said of Judah, (Gen. xli.w 8,) "Thou art he whom thy bre-
thren shall praise," and the name of Jndah signifies praise : As
it, is said of Dan, (vex 16,) " Dan shall judge his people," and
the name of Dun signifies judging : As it is said of Gad, (ver. 19,)
" A troop shall overcome him," and the name of Gad signifies
a troop or company : So it is said here " God shall enlarge
Japhelh," and the name of Japheth signifies enlargement. Was
Japhelh then more enlarged than the rest? Yes he was both in
territory and in children. The territories of Japheth's posterity
w ere indeed very large, for 6 besides all Europe, great and ex-
tensive as it. is, they possessed the lesser Asia, Media, part of
Armenia, Ih«ria, Albania, and those vast regions towards the
north, which anciently the Scythians inhabited, and now the
Tartars inhabit ; and it is not improbable that the New World
was peopled by some of his northern descendants passing
thither by the straits of Anian. The enlargement of Japheth
may also denote a numerous progeny as well as ample territory :
and if you consult the genealogies of the three brothers comprised
in the following chapter, you will find that Japheth had seven
sons, whereas Ham had only four, and Shem only five : and
the northern hive (as Sir William Temple denominates it) was
always remarkable for its fecundity, and hath been continually
pouring forth swarms, and sending out colonics into the more
southern parts, both in Europe and in Asia, both in former and
in latter times.
The following clause, "and he shall dwell in the tents of
Shem," is capable of a double construction ; for thereby may
be meant either that God or that Japheth shall dwell in the tents
of Shem; "in the tents of Shem," saith he, speaking according
to the simplicity of those times, when men dwelt in tents and
not in houses. They who prefer the former construction, seem
to have the authority of the original text on their side ; for
6 ' iis omnino assentior, qui per hrec
verba vnlunt Japhetho promilti, fore ut in
cerra' disisione amplissimam illi portioncm
habitaiidam Dens assi^net. Quod Deuni
aliunde pnrstitisse statim agnoscet quisquis,
pnnler Europam quanta quanta est, ad Ja-
phethi portionem pertinere cogitabit, Asiara
minorem, et Mediam, et Armenia? partem, et
Iberiam, et Albaniam, et vastissimas illas
regiones ad Boream, quas olini Scythae,
hodic Tarian obtinent. Ut de novo orbe
laceam,in quern per fretnm Anianis migrasse
Srvihas vero non est abs^lUt.' Bocharti
Ph'aleg. 1.3, c.l. col. 149.
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BISHOP NEWTON
there U no other noun to govern the verbs in the period, but
(;,„/,■ linn' i< mi pronoun in I lie Ili-I>ie\v, answering to the kt
uh>h \~ in-cried in our English translation: and the whole
:,..,.•<• would run thus, God will enlarge Japhdh, and will
d :■,',! },, //„• h,t'.*nf Skein : and the Chaliiec of ' Oukelos also
tlm- pa m phrase! h' it, 'and will make his glory to dwell in the
r, , -iik, of Shem.' They who prefer the latter construction,
■!! io have done it, that they might, refer this 27th verse
wh'i'.v to Japheth, as they refer i ho 2Glh wholly to Shem : but,
the other appears tome (he more natural anil easy construc-
tion. Taken in either sense, the prophecy hath been most,
punctually fulfilled. In the former sense it was fulfilled lite-
ral I \\ when the Shcck'tnah or divine presence rested on the ark,
and dwell in the tabernacle and temple of the Jews; and when
" the word who was with God and Wits God," (John i. 1,) htf r
*u*iv, pitched his tent, "and dwelt among us," (ver. 14.) In
the latter settle it was fulfilled first, when the Greeks and Ro-
mans, who sprung originally from Japheth, subdued and pos-
sessed Judca and other countries of Asia belonging to Shem ;
and again spiritually, when they were proselyted to the true
religion, and they who were not Israelites by birth, became
Israelites by faith, and lived, as we and many others of Japheth's
posterity do at this day, within the pale of the church of
Christ.
What think you now] Is not this a most, extraordinary pro-
phecy; a prophecy that was delivered near four thousand years
atro, and yet hath been fulfilling through the several periods of
time to this day ! It. is both wonderful and instructive. It is
the history of the world as it were in epitome. And hence we
are enabled to correct a mistake of one author, and expose the
petulance of another.
1. The fust is the learned and excellent Mr. Mede, an author
always to be read with improvement, and to be corrected with
reverence : but yet I conceive that he hath carried matters too
far in ascribing more to this prophecy than really belongs to
it. For discoursing of the dispersions and habitations of the
sons of Noah, he saith 9 that 'there hath never yet been a son
of Ham, who hath shaken a sceptre over the head of Japheth :
Shem hath subdued Japheth, and Japheth hath subdued Shem,
but Ham never subdued either:' and this passage hath been
cited by several 'commentators to illustrate this prophecy. But
this worthy person surely did not recollect, that Nimrod, the
first monarch in the world, (Gen. x. 8,) was the son of Cush,
who was the «on of Ham, (ver. 6.) Misraim was another son of
Ham; he was the father of the Egyptians, and the Egyptians
'Et haliiiarc faciet gloriam suam in ' Src. Mede's Works, b. 1, disc. 49 and
lUrnacuhs S<.-ra.' 50,p. 283, edit. 1672. 9 Patrick,&c.
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
23
detained the Israelites in bondage several years. Shishak king
of Egypt subdued Relioboam king of Judah, (1 Kings, xiv. 25.)
Sesosiris king of Egypt (the same probably as Shishak) con-
quered great part of Europe and of Asia, if there is any faith in
ancient history. The Carthaginians loo, who descended from
the Canaan it es, as we noted before, gained several victories
over the Romans in Spain and Italy. It was a mistake there-
fore to say that Ham never subdued SI lem or Japheth. It is
enough if he hath generally and for much the greatest part of
time been a servant to them, as he really hath been for two or
three thousand years, and continues at present. This suffi-
ciently verifies (lie prediction; and we should exceed the limits
of truth, if we should extend it farther. We might also as well
say (as some have said) that the complexion of the blacks was
in consequence of Noah's curse. But though Ham hath in some
instances and upon some occasions been superior, yet this is
memorable enough, that of the four famous monarchies of the
world, the Assyrian, Persian, Grecian, and Roman, the two for-
mer were of the descendants of Shem, as the two latter were of
the sons of Japheth.
2. The other is the famous author of the Letters on the Study
and Use of History, who hath strangely abused his talents in
abusing this prophecy. For the true meaning and exact com-
pletion of it rightly considered, what room is there for ridicule 1
and how absurd and impertinent as well as gross and indecent
are his reflections 1 ' The curse,' says he,' ' pronounced in it
contradicts all our notions of order and of justice. One is
tempted to think, that the patriarch was still drunk ; and rhat
no man in his senses could hold such language, or pass such a
sentence.' But such will be the case when men of more parts
than judgment talk and write about things which they do not
sufficiently understand ; and especially in matters of religion,
whereof they are by no means competent judges, having either
never studied them at all, or studied them superficially and with
prejudice. All that he hath written relating to these subjects
betrays great weakness in a man of his capacity, weakness great
as his malice ; and we might have an easy victory over asser-
tions without proofs, premises without conclusions, and conclu-
sions without premises. But I love not controversy, and will
only make two or three reflections just to give a specimen of the
boasted learning and abilities of this writer.
His lordship seemeth to take a particular pleasure in railing
at pedants, at the same time that he is himself one of the
most pedantic of writers, if it be pedantry to make a vain os-
tentation of learning, and to quote authors without either read-
ing or understanding them, or even knowing so much at, vho
1 Lord Bolingbroke's Works, vol. 2, Letter the 3d, p. 314, edit, quarto.
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21
III SHOP NEWTON
and what they arc. ' The Codex Alexandrians,' *saith he, ' we
owe to George the monk.' We are indebted indeed to George
the monk, more usually called Syncellus, for what, is entitled
/'(/ik Chrmrri'ii, or an old chronicle. But (lie Codex Jlkxan-
d.-hw- i- i|iiiic another thing; it is, as nil the learned know, the
Greek MS. of the Old and New Testament, brought
niiiMiallv from Alexandria, and presented to Charles I. and
.•>! i\\ remaining in the King's library, of which it. doth not. appear
iliai George I lie monk knew any thing, and it is evident that his
Im.Miip knew nothing. If he meant to say the Chronicon Mex-
i.uili-'u.nm, that is still another thing, and the work of another
author.
Hh lordship is of opinion, 3 that 'Virgil in those famous
vi Kxcudejit alii, &e. might have justly ascribed to his
countrymen the praise of writing history better than the Gre-
cian-. ' j'ut which are the Roman histories, that are to be pre-
ferred to the Grecian 1 Why, 'the remains, the precious re-
mains,' says his lordship, 'of Sallust, of Livy, and of Tacitus.'
But it happened that 'Virgil died before Livy had written his
history, and before Tacitus was born. And is not this an excel-
lent chronologer now to correct all ancient history and chrono-
logy, sacred and profane ?
His lordship is likewise pleased to say, 5 that ' Don Quixote
believed, but even Sancho doubted :' and it may be asserted on
the other side, that Sir Isaac Newton believed the prophecies,
though his lordship did not, the principal reason of which may
be found perhaps in the different life and morals of the one and
the other. Nay the wisest politicians and historians have been
believers, as well as the greatest philosophers. Raleigh and
Clarendon believed; Bacon and Locke believed; and where
then is the discredit to revelation, if Lord Bolingbroke was an in-
fidel? "A scorner," as Solomon saith, (Prov. xiv. 6,) "seeketh
wisdom and findeth it not."
But there cannot be a stronger condemnation of his lord-
ship's conduct than his own words upon another occasion, in
his famous Dissertation upon Parties. 'Some men there are,
the pests of society I think them, who pretend a great regard
to religion in general, but who take every opportunity of de-
claiming publicly against that system of "religion, or at least
against that church-establishment, which is received in Britain.
Jim so the men, of whom I have been speaking, affect a great
-fgard to liberty in general; but they dislike so much the sys-
>m of liberty established in Britain, that they are incessant in
their endeavours to puzzle the plainest thing in the world, and
J I-Hli-rllic H, p. 2S2. Tl.d. ing to Dodwelt, finished his history in 745.
1 I.' tt.-r 1 1>« 5th, p. 340, &c. Tacitus was consul in 850. See Fabricius.
» tt-'A died A. V. C. 736. Livy accord- 1 Letter the 4lh, p. 130.
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
25
to refmc and distinguish away (lie life and strength of our con-
stitution in favour of the little, present, momentary turns, which
they are retained to serve. What now would he the consequence,
if all these endeavours should succeed] I am persuaded that the
great philosophers, divines, lawyers, and politicians, w ho exert
them, have not yet prepared and agreed upon the plans of a new
religion, and of new constitutions in church and slate. We
should find ourselves therefore without any form of religion, 01
civil government. The first set of these missionaries would take
ofl'all the restraints of religion from the governed ; and I ho lattei
set would remove, or render ineffectual, all the limitations and
controls which liberty hath prescribed to those that govern, and
disjoint the whole frame of our constitution. Entire dissolution
of manners, confusion, anarchy, or perhaps absolute monarchy,
would follow, for it is possible, nay probable, that in such a state
as this, and amidst such a rout of lawless savages, men would
choose this government, absurd as it is, rather than have no
government at all.'
It is to he lamented that such a genius should be so employed ;
but the misapplication of those excellent talents with which God
had entrusted him, was his reigning fault through ever)' stage,
through every scene of life. That which Lord Digby 6 said of the
great Lord Strafford, may with more truth and justice" be affirmed
of him, that the malignity of his practices was hugely aggravated
by those rare abilities of his, whereof God had given him the
use, but the devil the application.
II. THE PROPHECIES CONCERNING ISHMAEL.
ABRAHAM was the patriarch of greatest renown next after
- the times of Noah. He was favoured with several reve-
lations ; and from him two very extraordinary nations descend-
ed, the Ishmaelites and Israelites, concerning each of whom
there are some remarkable prophecies. Ishmael, though the son
of the bond-woman, and not properly the child of promise, was
yet distinguished by some express predictions for the comfort and
satisfaction of both his parents. In the 16th chapter of Genesis,
(ver. 6 — 12,) when Hagar "fled from the face of her mistress
who had dealt hardly with her, the angel of the Lord found her
in the wilderness, and said unto her, Return to thy mistress and
submit thyself under her hands. And the angel of the Lord
said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall-
not be numbered for multitude. And the angel of the Lord
said unto her, Behold thou art with child, and shalt bear a son,
.j e Rushworth, vol. 4, p. 225.
3 D
Digitized by the Center for Adventist Research
z<:, i i : i. 'i' ,\r.\\ t< \
.... > • | :,,:•;,,•!. i-, <;.«! .hail In ■>.) u..
: : , !„ ,:.! iiix ;• ti-ui. Ami lie v. !: 1 •• n
v. ! I i »• a in i <••.> i\ ritiiii. ;iui' i a<-)\ ,i id's
: ; ! '.[.■ -h,ih ,iv..ll 111 lli'- J ■="«- -*-(*<■•- I.!' a,, iiis
I i ;.. :..v. a..: . h ij.'.-i. v. In ii I aac \\u- r .-il
. i, i ...! ;i •.*«•-- i'..r l-lini.-. l. " lahold
I '-, v. .11 .n:.!v I I mil I'm!, mul a,,, M : i1-
. . -. • .! i . i . ; i v. ••!.■• 1 1 r-h.-sil In- !••"»!. .<:>•( ! w ill
|: .,; " >\rr. _M.J A I.ITW !ir«!- >\ ''i'n ii /nr
I '!i i l ili • I he \. ihlt-riu* — s. 1 «'••! -a . : .lllil
. 1 :. ii. \-,:. 1.5. ! ■■ Ami :■!-•• i>l' - I' ii-f !• >i: -.'•<>-
I .: ■ :i l.-si'-ill. 1 i ■ S - ■ !:■' i- l!i\ m'IMi.'" The ".:itl<!
■ ! ■ ■ i ! I ■ . ■■ -, -r. I .->, ; '• 1 u 1 1 ! in; i k> li.in a liTft: t na !
', • • ."I- !'i ll ••• llli' II' -e l>l' exellls, V.i' -ha I -CC
.. ' ■ ■ ■"-']' ■"■ '•■'ii.'i !'- ha \ e hcen lu'lil'.i'd it'i mi I !ic ear! test
•• | v. , ;-'.:■:>. ii:;. .! i-\i- r:!;:i-!\-, llutt ii shall iihI lie
i i .-.I i iv.:r::i!.- :"' end ; i i i j t . " iii hold I have h!c-sed
1 ■!. an I V 'I make I ', ' } u I'i'ilii 'ill, and v. i'i multiply llilll cxceod-
i Ti'.''-'' pa--a'jvs evince that 1 1 io prophecy doth nut so
i '\ r'-'i t'i' in I-!st i a< In his posterity, which is here 1'orc-
' ! ! !■' \ • j v ittiiinT'Uls 1-hinael married an Eirypl ian wom.'iii,
: - >. - i: v. a- l l-.'-w an Kirvptian, ((it'll, xxi. 21,) !tl:(l in
; : . >..• ■ : - h.- la md v v. a- increased so, thai in the 37ili elt;: pier
• ; : • - •] ni' 1-Iiiiiacliics trading into Eirypt. Afier-
!- i. - 1 \v--- ! : ml ; ijila il I'ves't-tlin^'lv in ihe ! la::'" ■ 'lies,
• ; 1 . '.'.'a- .''-iiiiiiai a'ril !'nnn his mother Ha'jar ; ami in
■ \ -! : • n 'm liai] tle-ir name i'mm his sun Nt l-.d a h :
I 'i I 1 '-- I ii;. ai:-. V. lei Were si i called from llis son ,Jr:i;!' til*
I . •!. ! a.;!," \;' i'-|H'.'!ai!v ihi- Si'anili'S, a.nil ihc Saiari'iis,
\. '.■ i 1 1'. » i : -i n a jiai [.ail n| I In- world : a ml Ids, descendants, I ho
A i ''•-'. a;.- a mi', mum-ion- j il >I i» at I his day.
" l'u.',\.' [irinri's -hall In- In- ;;•••(." Tins rircumslance w very
: n'ai'. hnl il «'s | >■ ii •■■ I uallv fnllillril ; ami Muses iialh
n n- Irnin'- of lla'-i' IWi-lve |il'im'i'-'. ((It'll. XXV. !().)
" I i!a- -"ii- "I I hiiiai'l. ami thr-r arc iheir iianies,
'h".:' !".'. i:-. Mil hv ihi'ii ra-lli-s; Iwrhc princes according
i" '!.. r !."■' .".I - :" hv v.hich w>- are io nmlerslaml, no! I lint
'■' -o i.. any <!• - 'm-t -oM-rri'jn prince-, hut tinlv heads
••' '' : '. - or !• S'oil.o In-'lMi'lilly llienlions the Arahitui
,'' '•' •'• ■ hi' ili'l|i.r:i!ua!i - 1 1 ;i ■ I j !. or rulers nf llihes: and
•M .. >v. ,) (,y Kh-:..ih I'n m i Alt \amler l'nl\ hislor,' a l.ea-
r . • . . • \ i --.i s * ; , -':',■.[), f ■/ v/ i i» t'd (v*Ti / tiirnjnt- fiti/rthiihiiit pr'm-
'■ ■ ■ ' , ' ' ' ■ i ■ " • i ,• ; ' " . -i ;t : i i tju't ( n'tmil sit, nf n!>(8
' ■ •:-._> ; ■ :t;t i' ■•, f.-mils tf/it, '.ri'j tt'if/' i nr s (jft
'■ ■' '■■ ; i a- fn hvifurn nnmtriitlur. Eusob.
/ . ./.' - ]' : |,.. r . Kvan \ LH, c 19.
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
27
then historian, relates that 'Abraham of his Egyptian wife begat
twelve sons, (he should have said one son who begat twelve
sons,) who departing into Arabia divided the region between
them, and were the lirst kings of (he inhabitants ; whence even
to our days the Arabians have twelve kings of the same names
as die first.' And ever since the people have been governed by
phylnrchs, and have lived in tribes; and slili continue to do so,
as a Thevenot and other modern travellers testily.
"And I will make him a great nation." This is repeated
twice or thrice; and it was accomplished, as soon as in the
regular course of nature it could be accomplished. His seed
in process of time grew into a great, nation, and such they con-
tinued for several ages, and such they remain to this day.
They might indeed emphatically be styled a great nation, when
the Saracens had made those rapid and extensive conquests,
and erected one of the largest empires that ever were in the
world.
" And he will be a wild man." In the original it is a wild ass-
man, and the learned TJochart translates it, 'tarn ferns quam
onager,' as icild as a wild ass ; so that that should be eminently
true of him, which in the book of Job, (xl. 12,) is affirmed of
mankind in general, "Man is born like a wild ass's cJj."
But, what is the nature of the creature, to which Ishmael is so
particularly compared ? It cannot be described better than it
is in the same book of Job, (xxxix. 5 — 8,) "Who hath sent
out the wild ass free 1 or who hath loosed the bands of the
wild assl Whose house I have made the wilderness, and the
barren land his dwellings. He scorneth the multitude of the
city, neither regardeth he the crying of the driver. The range
of the mountains is his pasture, and he searcheth after every
green thing." Ishmael therefore and his posterity were to be
wild, fierce, savage, ranging in the deserts, and not easily soft-
ened and tamed to society : and whoever *halh read or known
any thing of this people, knoweth this to be their true and
genuine character. It is said of Ishmael, (Gen. xxi. 20,) that
"he dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer:" and the
same is no less true of his descendants than of himself. " He
dwelt in the wilderness ;" and his sons still inhabit the same
wilderness, and many of them neither sow nor plant, 4 according
to the best accounts ancient and modern. "And he became
an archer ;" and such were the Itureans, whose 5 bows and ar-
rows are famous in all authors; such were the mighty men of
Kedar, in Isaiah's time, (Isa. xxi. 17;) and such the Arabs have
5 See Part 1, b. 2, c. 32. Soe likewise Harris, vol. 2, b. 2, c. 9.
Harris's Voyages, vol. 2, b. 2, c. 9, * 1 Itvneos taxi torquentur in arcus.*
s Hierozoic. Pars prior. 1. 3, c. 16, c. 878. Virgil Geor. ii. 448. 'Itureis cursus fuit
4 Ammianus Marcollinus 1. 14, c. 4. inde sagiuis.' Lucan. vii. 230.
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28
Brsnop NEWTON
born from the beginning, ami arc at this time. It. was late
before thev admitted the, use of fire-anus among thein ; 6 the
greater part of them still are strangers to them, and still con-
tinue skilful archers.
<■• 111- 1 1 .- 1 j 1 1 1 will he against every man, and every man's hand
ntrmwi him." The one is the natural and almost, necessary
eoii-eoiience of the other. Islnnael lived by prey and rapine in
ih'* wilderness; and his posterity have all along infested Arabia
and 1 1 i ( ■ neighbouring countries with their robberies and incur-
sions. They live in a stale of continual war with the rest of
tin* world, and arc both robbers by land, and pirates by sea.
A> they have been such enemies to mankind, it, is no wonder
lhai mankind have been enemies to them again, that, several
attempts have been made to extirpate them; and even now as
well a-! formerly travellers arc forced to go with asms and in
caravans or large companies, and to march and keep watch and
irnard like a little army, to defend themselves from the assaults
of these free hooters, who run about in troops, and rob and plun-
der all whom they can by any means subdue. These robberies
they also 7 justify ' by alleging the hard usage of their father
hhmnel, who, being turned out of doors by Abraham, had the
open plains and deserts given him by God for his patrimony,
with permission to take whatever he could find there. And on
this account they think they may, with a safe conscience, indem-
nify themselves as well as they can, not only on the posterity of
Isaac, hut also on every body else ; always supposing «. sort of
kimlied between themselves and those they plunder. And in
relating their adventures of this kind, they think it. sufficient to
change the expression, and instead of / robbed a man of such or
sw:h a thing, to say, / gained it?
"And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren;"
shall tabernacle, for many of the Arabs dwell in tents, and are
therefore called Scentles. It appears that they dwelt in tents in
the wilderness so long ago as in Isaiah and Jeremiah's time,
(Is. xiii. 20 ; Jer. iii. 2,) and they do the same at this day. This
is very extraordinary, that "his hand should be against every
man, and every man's hand against him," and yet that he should
he able to "dwell in the presence of all his brethren :" but extra-
ordinary as if was, this also hath been fulfilled both in the per-
s'in of fshmael, and in his posterity. As for Islnnael himself,
the sacred historian afterwards relates, (Gen. xxv. 17, 18,) that
"the years of the life of Islnnael were an hundred and thirty
arc! seven years, and he died in the presence of all his brethren."
A- 1 for his posterity, they dwelt likewise in the presence of al!
their brethren, Abraham's sons by Keturah, the Moabites and
' TV-wn-.t In TTarrN. vol. 2, h. 2,c.!>. $ l,p. 30, 31, where he also quotes Voyage
Sa> s Prelim. Oi-eourse to the Koran dans la Palest, p. 220, &e. °
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
29
Ammonites descendants of Lot, I lie Israelit es descendants of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and tins Kdomitcs descendants of
Abraham, Isaac, and Esau. And they still subsist a distinct
people, and inhabit the country of (heir progenitors, notwith-
standing the perpetual enmity between them and the rest of
mankind. It may be said perhaps that the country was not
worth conquering', and its barrenness was its preservation:
but. this is a mistake, for by all accounts, though the greater
part of it be sandy and barren deserts, yet here and there arc
interspersed beautiful spots and fruitful valleys. One part of
the country was anciently known and distinguished by the
name of Arabia the happy. And now the proper Arabia is by
the oriental writers generally divided into live provinces. Of
these the chief is the province of Yaman, which, as a 8 learned
writer asserts upon good authorities, 'has been famous from all
antiquity for the happiness of its climate, its fertility and riches.
The deiightfulness and plenty of Yaman are owing to its moun-
tains ; for all that part which lies along the Red Sen, is a dry,
barren desert, in some places ten or twelve leagues over, but in
return bounded by those mountains, which being well water-
ed, enjoy an almost continual spring, and besides coffee, the
peculiar produce of this country, yield great plenty and variety
of fruits, and in particular excellent corn, grapes, and spices.
The soil of the other provinces is much more barren than that
of Yaman ; the greater part of their territories being covered
with dry sands, or rising into rocks, interspersed here and there
with some fruitful spots, which receive their greatest advan
tages from their water and palm-trees.' But if the country was
ever so bad, one would think it should be for the interest of
the neighboring princes and states at any hazard to root out
such a pestilent race of robbers: and actually it hath several
times been attempted, but never accomplished. They have from
first to last maintained their independency, and notwithstanding
the most powerful efforts for their destruction, still dwell in the
presence of all their brethren, and in the presence of all their
enemies.
We find that in the time of Moses, they were grown up into
"twelve princes according to their nations," (Gen. xxv. 16;)
"and they dwelt (saith Moses, ver. 18,) from Havilah unto
Shur, that is before Egypt, a3 thou goest towards Assyria :"
but yet we do not find that they were ever subject to either of
their powerful neighbours, the Egyptians or Assyrians. The
conquests of Sesostris, the great king of Egypt, are much mag
nified by Diodorus Siculus ; and probably he might subdue some
of the western provinces of Arabia bordering upon Egypt, but he
was obliged, as 'Diodorus informs us, to draw a line from Heli-
• Sale's Prelim. Disc. ibid. p. 2, 3. s Diod. Sie. 1. i. c. 57, e d. Wessclir.o.
3*
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30 BISHOP NEWTON
opolis to Pohwinm, to secure Egypt from the incursions of the
Arabs. TIm'v were therefore not subjects:, hut enemies to the
Egvptiain; a< they were likewise, to the, Assyrians, for they
n—i'-ted 'Belesis and Arhaces in overturning that, empire, assisted
1 hem iioi a- fellow-rebels, hut as an independent stale with their
nu miliars" loin'-:.
The next great conquerors, of the east were Cyrus and the
Persian*; hut neither lie nor any of his successors ever reduced
the whole body of the Arabs to subjection. They might conquer
*>iiie of the exterior, hut never reached the interior parts of the
country : and Herodotus, the historian who lived nearest to those
limi--, saith expressly, that 2 the Arabs were never reduced by
the Persians to the condition of subjects, but were considered by
them as friends, and opened to them a passage into Egypt,
which without the assistance and permission of the Arabs would
have been utterly impracticable; and in 3 another place he saith,
that while Phoenicia, Palestine, Syria, and the neighbour^
countries were taxed, the Arabian territories continued free from
paying- any tribute. They were then regarded as friends, but
afterwards they assisted with their forces 4 Amyrtavus king of
Eirypt against Darius Nothus, and 6 Enagoras king of Cyprus
iiuainst Artaxcrxes. Mnenion; so that they acted as friends or
enemies to the Persians, just as they thought proper, and as it
suited their humour or their interest.
Alexander the Great then overturned the Persian empire, and
conquered Asia. The neighbouring princes sent their ambas-
sadors to make their submissions. The Arabs 6 alone disdained
to acknowledge, the conqueror, and scorned to send any ein-
bas-y, or to lake any notice of him. This slight provoked him
to such a degree, that he meditated an expedition against them ;
and the <rreat preparations which he made for it, showed that
he thought them a very formidable enemy; but death inter-
veiied, and put an end to all that his ambition or resentment had
formed against them. Thus they happily escaped the fiuy of
his arms, and w< re never subdued by any of his successors.
Anti^onu--, one of (lie greatest of his successors, 7 made two
attempt-- upon (item, one by his general Athensetis, and the other
by hi- own son Demetrius, hut both without success; the for-
mer was defeated, and the latter was giad to make peace
1 Di-d. Sir-. 1. ii. r . 2|.
8 A'fi' III i I <tl 4 ni>'] KilTf'KOTCav fTTI rot'Ao-
trfi/ir. ll/or,-,, (uuit iyf'rorro, trrtpf'lT--
KyKtey, !-' Ai*> it™ iixiiiriavyni) ' ho SUiv,
ci k ui tc, Ui'Smtv 11/flOn tti A iyvvTov. ' Arn-
L>i nnn-/iiritii a iW.s in smitnHm rr'lncti
*ll"t, Kfil h'rtju'ttrt irshtnunt. f/uu.m Camlysi
w'ttltm m sKi'n/jtnm ptTrhixitxrnt : tjui^us
• ':','''* '''"'''J" <i"""l /'«'"''» >'-;«(» I'irsa
t'lii<fl>tuM. Ikrod, 1. <n. t b8.
3 ftiiil. t$ 9Ij irXf/K (iofpijt rrjg 'Apapiuv
{riiura yiio t/v aTt)(n) — jtra'ltr ylrafmm ^jor-
tti/i, (huccniin crttt imtmtftix.)
4 Diodorus Sinilus, 1. 13, c. 4G. Prideaux
Connet-t. p. 6. anno 410.
6 Diodnrus Sinilus, !. 15, c. 2. Prideaux
Conncrt. p. 1, 1). 7, mi. 3SG.
'■ Stralm, I. 1G, p. 1076 and 1132, Edit.
Amiitol. 1707. Arrian. I. 7, p. 300, Edit.
Grnnov. ' Diodorus Siculus, 1. 19, i:. 94.
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Ox\ THE PROPHECIES. 31
w.th llioni, and leave them at. their liberty. Neither would they
slider tlie people employed by Anligonus, to gather tlic bitumen
on the lake Asphaltilos, whereby he hoped greatly to increase
his revenue. The Arabs fiercely attacked I he workmen and the
guards, and forced (hem to desist, from their undertaking. Ho
true is the assertion of "Diodorus, that 'neither the Assyrians
formerly, nor the kings of the Medes and Persians, nor yet of
the Macedonians, wore able to subdue them; nay though they
led many and great forces against, them, yet they could not ac-
complish their attempts.' We find (hem afterwards sometimes
tit peace, and sometimes at war with the neighbouring states;
sometimes joining the Syrians, and sometimes the Egyptians ;
sometimes assisting the Jews, and sometimes plundering them;
and in all respects acting like a free people, who neither feared
nor courted any foreign power whatever.
The Romans then invaded the east, and subdued the coun-
tries adjoining, but were never able to reduce Arabia into the
form of a Roman province. It is too common with historians
to say that such or such a country was conquered, when per-
haps only a part of it was so. It is thus that "Plutarch asserts
that the Arabs submitted to Lucullus ; whereas the most that
we can believe is, that he might subdue some particular tribes;
but be was recalled, and the command of the Roman army in
Asia was given to Pompey. Pompey, though he triumphed
over the three parts of the world, could not yet conquer Arabia.
He 1 carried his arms into the country, obtained some victories,
and compelled Are t as to submit; but other affairs soon obliged
him to retire, and by retiring he lost all the advantages which
he had gained. His forces were no sooner withdrawn, than the
Arabs made their incursions again into the Roman provinces.
iElius Gallus in the reign of Augustus* penetrated far into the
country, but a strange distemper made terrible havoc in his
army, and after two years spent, in this unfortunate expedition,
he was glad to escape with the small remainder of his forces.
The Emperor Trajan reduced some parts of Arabia, but he could
never subdue it entirely; and when he besieged the city of the
Hagarenes, as 3 Dion says, his soldiers were repelled by light-
| Ofif o! 'Ao-o-tfoioi ro ira\aiiv, o50' oi MijSav ' 'Eylmvro (i (SpovTat, Kai 'pihs l*e<pa'vov~
«riii ITrj»rui>, Iti if MiwrAiiw $aat\cistiSw^- to. icTfairai te Kai $d\n, x^"i a "eoavvo'
Btjeav aiiroCf KaraSovXiivacdiu, jroAX<i{ ftev rots 'fuualon folvnrrov, f>iro>r vDoaSaXnev.
Kai ittyiXas iWutu tV adroit ayayoVres, Kit! 6ir<Srt ot v ScmvoUv, pflai toij (ipiZftaai Kal
ojiMrow he T&s ImSoXas (nvrtXinavrti- nec ro?j irifiavi vfom^dvovcat, oW^rpt/as uwavTa
Assyrii ohm, nec Medi ac Persee, into nec hmtpiXav. tui Tpatmis fi" UciBtv oSruf
Mneedanum reges subigere Was potuere,qui avijXOc. Ihiccelum tomtru contremuit, irides
liret magnis in eos copiis mowrint, nnrupinm visa sunt, fulgura, procelttc, grando, fulmina
lumen mrepta adfinem perduxere. Diod.Sic. »'» Rnmni 'ms ~r.adeha.nt, quolies in illos im-
1. 2, r, 48.
pctum facerent : quotiesque ccenarent,
muscaz
9 Plutarch in Lncullo, passim. tarn etmlenlu qnam poudentis ir.sidentes,
1 Plutarch in Pompeio, § 41, 42. cuncla nausea quadam implehnnl. Itaque
* Strabu, 1. 16, p. 1126. Dura. Cass. Trnmnus hide pnt/irisritur. Dionis. Hist. I
Hist. 1. 53, J 29, cel. Reiniar. calls him by GS, § 31.
mistake ^Elius Largus.
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BISHOP NEWTON
nine's, thundering^, hail, whirlwinds, and Other prodigies, and
wore I'Mifiiintlv so repelled, as often as they renewed their as-
saults. At the winie lime great swarms of flics infested his
rmnji ; ilial lie was forced at. last lo raise (lie siege, and retired
v uli iIi -<:t uv into his own dominions. About eighty years after,
the em;i ror Scverus twice besieged the same city with a nume-
rous army and a train of military engines; but he had no better
slice" than Trajan. God, 1 says the heathen historian, pre-
served the city Ivy the backwardness of the emperor at one time,
and by that of his farces at another. He made some assaults,
but wa~ bail'ed and defeated, and returned with precipitation as
greal as his vexation for his disappointment. And if such great
emperors and able warriors as Trajan and Severus could not
succeed in their attempts, it is no wonder that the following
emperors could prevail nothing. The Arabs continued their
incuHons and depredations, in Syria and other Roman provinces,
with equal license and impunity.
Such was the state and condition of (lie Arabs to the time
of their famous prophet Mohammed, who laid the foundations
of a mighty empire : and then for several centuries they were
better known among the European nations by the name of the
Sinrarrni or Saracens, the Arracenp of Pliny r , and the e Haga-
vnics of Holy Scripture. Their conquests were indeed amazingly
rapid ; they can be compared to nothing more properly than to
a sudden flood or inundation. In a few y^ears the Saracens
overran more countries, and subdued more people than the
Romans did in several centuries. They were then not only free
and independent of the rest of the world, but were themselves
masters of the most considerable parts of the earth. And so
they continued for 7 about three centuries; and after their em-
pire was dissolved, and they were reduced within the limits
of their native country, they still maintained their liberty
against the Tartars, Mamalucs, Turks, and all foreign enemies
whatever. Whoever were the concpierors of Asia, they were
still unconquercd, still continued their incursions, and preyed
upon ail alike. The Turks have now for several centuries been
lords of the adjacent countries; but they have been so little
able to restrain the depredations of the Arabs, 8 that they have
* K<it ovru Olds h avtiaplvo'; ttjv tt^Xcv, rovi
prvffro i Tithrn< ri'i'jj'.'/ vt<i$ uv lis airhv tliriX-
$uv, rtti t'hi y.ifn'iitrn} (ii'EKaXcffe, Ka\ rbv Xc'>9-
fov av t jitivXvQtira airjv pira touto Ail?c?v,
iia ruif trroaTih)T^}v tKuXuaiv. Ufl^ue Dvus
urhfm iiht-mviti tpti per Seuemm revoevvit
mitiUXy quum powent in ip.lam infrredi ; et
Sevrrum cupicidem ean/lem postm capere,pcr
militrt prnhihuit. Ibid. 1.75, § 12.
' Plin. Nat. Hist. 1. vi. c. 32, ubi vide
ftolam llarduini.
• 'Ha guren/4 : the descendants oflshmael.
They ore called also Ishmaclites and Sara-
cens, &c.' Calmet's Diet.
7 The Saracens began their conquests
A. D. 622, and tc reign at Damascus A. D.
637. Their empire was broken and divided
A. D. 936. See Dr. Blair's Chronol. Ta-
bles, Tab. 33 and 39, and Sir Isaac Newton
on the Apocalypse, c. 3, p. 304, 305.
B Sec Thevenot in Harris, vol. 2, b. 2, C
9, and Demetrius Caniemir's Hist, of the
Olhman empire in Ahmed II. p. 393.
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I
ON THE PROPHECIES.
33
been obliged to pay them a sort of annual tribute for the safe pas-
sage and security of llic pilgrims, who usually go in great com-
panies to Mecca: so t bat tbe Turks bave ralber been dependent
upon (bem, iban they upon the Turks. And tbey still continue
(he same practices, and preserve the same superiority, if we
may believe tbe concurrent testimony of modern travellers; of all
nations.
Two of our own nation have lately travelled into (hose parts,
and have written and published their travels, both men of lite-
rature, both reverend divines, and writers of credit and cha-
racter, Dr. Shaw and Bishop Pococke ; and in several instances
tbey confirm the account that we have given of this people.
' With regaid to the manners and customs of the Bedoweens,'
saith 9 Dr. Shaw, ' it is to be observed that tbey retain a great
many of those we read of in sacred as well as profane history ;
being, if we except their religion, the same people tbey were
two or three thousand years ago ; without ever embracing any
of those novelties in dress or behaviour, which have bad so
many periods and revolutions in the Moorish and Turkish cities.'
And after giving some account of their hospitality, he proceeds
thus ; ' Yet the outward behaviour of the Arab frequently gives
tbe lie to his inward temper and inclination. For he is natu-
rally thievish and treacherous ; and it sometimes happens that
those very persons are overtaken and pillaged in the morning,
who were entertained the night before with all the instances
of friendship and hospitality. Neither are tbey to be accused
for plundering strangers only, and attacking almost every per-
son whom they find unarmed and defenceless, but for those
many implacable and hereditary animosities, which continually
subsist among them, literally fulfilling to this day the prophecy,
" that Ishmael should be a wild man ; his hand should be
against every man, and every man's hand against him." ' Dr.
Shaw himself 1 was robbed and plundered by a party of Arabs
in his journey from Ramah to Jerusalem, though he was es-
corted by four bands of Turkish soldiers ; and yet the Turks at
the same time paid a stipulated sum to the Arabs, in order to
secure a safe passage for their caravans : and there cannot
surely be a stronger proof, not only of the independency of the
Arabs, but even of their superiority, not only of their enjoying
their liberty, but even of their abusing it to licentiousness.
Bishop Pococke was the last who travelled into those parts ;
and he hath informed us that the present inhabitants of Arabia
resemble the ancient in several respects ; that s they live under
tents, and stay in one place as long as they have water and
shrubs and trees for their camels to feed on, for there is no
" Shaw's Travels, p. 300, &c. • Preface to his Travels, p. vii.
2 Pococke's Description of the East, vol. 1, b. iii. c. 2.
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34
BISHOP NEWTON
tillage nor crass in all this country ; that all their riches con
si<t '"in camels a lew* goats, and sometimes sheep, so that they
live in sireal poverty, having nothing hut a few dates and a little
•ron's milk, and bring all their corn eight or ten days' journey
from Cairo; that they are in different nations or clans, each
,,!ie\iim tl jo orders of its great chief, and every encampment
:,'i.i~e \.i its particular chief; and though seemingly divided,
vei thev are all united in a sort of league together; that they
' love plunder and the roving sort of life this disposition leads
iheiii to, have good horses, and manage them and their pikes
wiili much address; those on foot use poles, with which they
fence oil' the spear with great art. So that authors both sacred
ami profane, Jewish and Arabian, Greek and Roman, Christian
and Mohammedan, ancient and modern, all agree in the same
account : and if any are desirous of seeing the matter deduced
more at large, they may be referred to a dissertation upon the
independency of the Arabs by the learned authors of the Univer-
sal History.
An author, who hath lately published an account of Persia,
having occasion to speak of the Arabians, 4 says, 'their expert-
ness in the use of the lance and sabre, renders them fierce and
intrepid. Their skill in horsemanship, and their capacity of
hearing (he heat of their burning plains, give them also a supe-
riority over their enemies. Hence every petty chief in his own
(Indict considers himself as a sovereign prince, and as such
exacts customs from all passengers. Their conduct in this re-
spect has often occasioned their being considered in no better light
than robbers, Sec. They generally marry within their own tribe,
ice. When they plunder caravans travelling through their terri-
tories, they consider it as reprisals on the Turks and Persians,
w ho often make inroads into then country, and carry away their
corn and their flocks.'
Who can fairly consider and lay all these particulars toge-
ther, and not perceive the hand of God in this whole allair
from the beginning to the end] The sacred historian saith, that
these prophecies concerning Ishmael were delivered partly by
tin- nnirel of the Lord, and partly by God himself: and indeed
who but God, or one raised and commissioned by him, could
describe so particularly the genius and manners, not only of a
single person before he was born, but of a whole people from
the first founder of the race to the present time? It was some-
what wonderful, and not to be foreseen by human sagacity or
prude nee, that a man's whole posterity should so nearly resem-
nle him, and retain the same inclinations, the same habits, the
same customs throughout all ages. The waters of the purest
spring or fountain are soon changed and polluted in their
1 li. iv. c. 4. 4 Hamvay's Travels, vol.4, pan 5 c.29 p. 221, &c.
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ON THE PROPHECIES. 35
course; aid the farther still they flow, (lie more they are in-
corporated and lost in other waters. How have the modern
Italians degenerated from the courage avid virtues of the old
Romans 1 How are the French and English polished and re-
fined from the barbarism of the ancient Gauls and Britons]
Men and manners change with times: but in all changes and
revolutions the Arabs have still continued the same with little
or no alteration. And yet it cannot be stud of them, as of some
barbarous nations, that they have had no commerce or inter-
course with the rest of mankind; for by their conquests they
overran a great part of the earth, and for some centuries were
masters of most of the learning that was then in the world : but
however they remained and still remain the same fierce, savage,
intractable people, like their great ancestor in every thing, anil
different from most of the world besides. Ishmael was circum-
cised ; and so are his posterity to this day : and as Ishmael was
circumcised when he was thirteen years old, so were the Arabs
at the same age, according to Josephus. 5 He was born of Hagar,
who was a concubine ; and they still indulge themselves in the
use of mercenary wives and concubines. He lived in tents in
the wilderness, shifting from place to place; and so do his
descendants, particularly those therefore called Scenites 6 for-
merly, and those called Bedoweens at this day. He was an
archer in the wilderness ; and so are they. He was to be the
father of twelve princes or heads of tribes ; and they live in clans
or tribes at this day. He was a wild man, his hand against
every man, and every man's hand against him : and they live in
the same state of war, their hand against every man, and every
man's hand against them.
This, I say, is somewhat wonderful, that the same people
should retain the same dispositions for so many ages ; but it is
still more Avonderful, that with these dispositions, and this en-
mity to the whole world, they should still subsist in spite of the
world an independent and free people. It cannot be pretended,
that no probable attempts were ever made to conquer them ; for
the greatest conquerors in the world have almost all in their turns
attempted it, and some of them have been very near effecting
it. It cannot be pretended that the dryness or inaccessibleness
of their country hath been their preservation ; for their country
hath been often penetrated, though never entirely subdued. I
know that 7 Diodorus Siculus accounts for their preservation
from the dryness of their country, that they have wells digged
in proper places known only to themselves, and their enemies
* Antiq. 1. I, c. 12, § 2, Edit. Hudson. rav cctpkCv] cognominati.' Plin. ]. 6, c. 28
Vide etiam Pocockii Specimen. Hist, § 32. Pocockii Specimen. Hist. Arab p 87
Arab. p. 319. » Diodorus Siculus. .. 2. c. 48, et 1. 19, c.
8 'So«nita3 — vagi — a tabernaculis [iirJ 94.
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BISHOP NEWTON
ami invaders through ignorance of these places perish for want
of water: but this account is far from being an adequate and
hist representation of (he case; large armies have found the
means of subsistence in their country; none of their powerful
invaders ever desisted on (his account; aud therefore that they
ha\e mil been conquered, we must impute to some oilier cause.
When in all human probability they were upon the brink of ruin,
then (as we have before seen at large) they were signally and
providentially delivered. Alexander was preparing an expedition
against them, when an inflammatory fever cut hini oil' in the
flower of his age. Pompcy was in the career of his conquests,
when urgent a Hairs called him elsewhere. iElius Gallus had
penetrated far into the country, when a fatal disease destroyed
great numbers of his men, and obliged him to return. Trajan
besieged their capital city, but was defeated by thunder and
liuhlniug, whirlwinds and other prodigies, aud that as often us
lie renewed his assaults, governs besieged the same city twice,
and was twice repelled from before it; and the historian Dion,
a man of rank and character, though an heathen, plainly as-
cribes the defeat of these two emperors to the interposition of
a divine power. We who know the prophecies, may be more
assured of the reality of a divine interposition : and indeed other-
wise how could a single nation stand out against the enmity of
the whole world for any length of time, and much more for near
four thousand years together 1 The great empires round them
have all in their turns fallen to ruin, while they have continued
the same from the beginning, and arc likely to continue the same
to the end: and this in the natural course of human affairs was
s.) highly improbable, if not. altogether impossible, that as nothing
but a divine prescience could have foreseen it, so nothing but a
divine power could have accomplished it.
These are the only people, besides the Jews, who have sub-
sisted as a distinct people from the beginning ; and in some
respects they very much resemble each other. The Arabs as
well as the Jews are descended from Abraham, and both boast of
their descent from that father of the faithful. The Arabs as well
as the Jews are circumcised, and both profess to have derived
that, ceremony from Abraham. The Arabs as well as the Jews
had originally twelve patriarchs or heads of tribes, who were
their princes or governors. The Arabs as well as the Jews marry
among themselves and in their own tribes. The Arabs as well
as the Jews are singular in several of their customs, and are
standing monuments to all ages, of the exactness of the divine
predictions, and of the veracity of Scripture history. We may
with more confidence believe the particulars related" of Abraham
and Ishmael, when we see them verified in their posterity at this
day. Tins is having as it were ocular demonstration for our
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ON TJJE PROPHECIES. 3?
fai ill . This is proving by plain matter of fact, (lint, "the Most
High riikitli in the kingdoms of men," and that bis truth, as well
as his " mercy, endureth for ever."
III. THE PROPHECIES CONCERNING JACOB AND ESAU.
AS it pleased God to disclose unto Abraham the state and
- condition of his posterity by Ishmael, who was the son of
the bond-woman, it might be with reason expected, that some-
thing should be predicted concerning li is posterity also by Isaac,
who was the son of the free-woman. He was properly the child
of promise, and the prophecies relating to him and his family
are much more numerous than those relating to Ishmael : but
we will select, and enlarge upon such only, as have reference to
these latter ages.
It was promised to Abraham before Ishmael or any son was
born to him, (Gen. xii. 3,) "In thee shall all families of the
earth he blessed." But after the birth of Ishmael and Isaac, the
promise was limited to Isaac, (Gen. xxi. 12,) "for in Isaac shall
thv seed be called." And accordingly to Isaac was the promise
repeated, (Gen. xxvi. 4,) " In thy seed shall all the nations of the
earth be blessed." The Saviour of the world therefore was not
to come of the family of Ishmael, but of the family of Isaac :
which is an argument for the truth of the Christian religion in
preference to the Mohammedan, drawn from an old prophecy
and promise made two thousand years before Christ, and much
more before Mohammed was born.
The land of Canaan was promised to Abraham and his seed
four hundred years before they took possession of it, (Gen. xv.)
It was promised again to Isaac, (Gen. xxvi. 3:) "Sojourn in
this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless (hee : for unto
thee and unto thy seed I will give all these countries, and I will
perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father."
Now it is very well known, that it was not till after the death of
Moses, who wrote these things, that the Israelites got possession
of the land under the command of Joshua. They remained in
possession of it several ages in pursuance of these prophecies :
and afterwards, when for their sins and iniquities they were to
be removed from it, their removal also was foretold, both the car-
rying away of the ten tribes, and the captivity of the two remain-
ing tribes for seventy years, and likewise their finai japtivity and
dispersion into all nations, till in the fulness of time they shall be
restored again to the land of their inheritance.
It was foretold- to Abraham that his posterity should be mul-
tiplied exceedingly above that of others, (Gen. xii. 2 :) "I will
4
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BISHOP NEWTON
make of thee a great nation;" and, (xxii. 17,) "in blessing I
will bless lin e, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as
the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is ujxm the sea-
shore." The same promise was continued to Isaac, (Gen.
xxvi. ■!,) " I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of hea-
ven." And not to mention the vast increase of their other pos-
terity, how soon did their descendants by Jacob grow up into a
miirutv nation ? and how numerous were they formerly in the
laud of Canaan 1 how numerous were they in other parts of the
world, according to the accounts of Philo and Jose pirns'? and
after the innumerable massacres and persecutions which they
have undergone, how numerous are they still in their present
dispersion among all nations] It is computed that there areas
many Jews now, or more than ever there were, since they have
been a nation. A learned 'foreigner, who hath written a history
of the Jews as a supplement and continuation of the history of
Josephus, says that 'it is impossible to fix the number of per-
sons this nation is at present composed of. But yet we have
reason to believe, there are still near three millions of people,
who profess this religion, and as their phrase is, are witnesses of
tlie unity of God in all the nations of the world.'' And who could
foretel such a wonderful increase and propagation of a branch
only of one man's family, but the same divine power that could
effect it 1
But Isaac had two sons, whose families did not grow up and
incorporate into one people, but were separated into two diffe-
rent nations : and therefore, as it had been necessary before to
specify whether Ishmael or Isaac was to be heir of the promises,
so there was a necessity for the same distinction now between
Esau and Jacob. Accordingly, when their molhar bad con-
ceived, " the children struggled together within her," (Gen. xxv.
22 ;) and it was revealed unto her bj r the Lord, (ver. 23,) " Two
nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be se-
parated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger
than the other people, and the elder shall serve the younger."
The same divine Spirit influenced and directed their father to
give his final benediction to the same purpose : for thus he
blessed Jacob, (Gen. xxvii. 28, 29,) " God give thee of the dew
of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and
wine. Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee ;
be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down
to thee ; cursed l)e every one that curseth thee, and blessed be
he that blcsseth thee ;" and thus he blessed Esau, ver. 39, 40,)
" Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of
the dew of heaven from above. And by thy sword shalt thou
Vive, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass
1 See Basnage's History of the Jews. Book 7, c. 33, § 15.
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ON TOE PROPHECIES.
39
when thou slialt have the dominion, that (liou shall, break his
yokc from o/l'tliy neck." Rut for greater clearness and certainty
a niDie express revelation was iiflerwanls made to Jacob; and
the land of Canaan, a numerous progeny, and t lie blessing of all
nations, were, promised to him in particular, ((Jen. xxviii. I'-j, 11:)
"lam the Lord Cod of Abraham thy father, and the Cod of
Laar. : the land whereon thou liest, lo (bee will I give it, and to
thy seed. And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and
thou shall spread abroad to (he west, and to the east, and to the
north, and to the south; and in Ihee, and in thy seed, shall all
the families of the earth be blessed."
We have here a farther and more ample proof of what, was
asserted before, that these ancient prophecies were meant not
so much of single persons, as of whole people and nations de-
scended from them. For what is here predicted concerning
Esau and Jacob was not verified in themselves, but in their pos-
terity. Jacob was so far from bearing rule over Esau, that he
was forced to fly his country for fear of Esau, (Gen. xxvii.) He
continued abroad several years: and when he returned to his
native country, he sent a supplicatory message to his brother
Esau, ((Jen. xxxii, 5,) "that he might find grace in his sight."
A\ hen he heard of Esau's coming to meet him with four hundred
men, he "was greatly afraid and distressed," (ver. 7,) and cried
unto the Lord, (ver." 11,) "Deliver me, I pray thee, from the
hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau." He sent a mag-
nificent present before him to appease his brother, calling Esau
his "lord," and himself Esau's "servant," (ver. 18.) When he
met him, he "bowed himself to the ground seven times until he
came near to his brother," (Gen. xxx. 3.) And after be had
found a gracious reception, he acknowledged (ver. 10,) " I have
seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou
wast pleased with me." Jacob then had no temporal superiority
over Esau ; and therefore we must look for the completion of the
prophecy among their posterity. The prophecy itself refers us
thither, and mentions plainly two nations and two'manncr of people,
and comprehends these several particulars; that the families of
Esau and Jacob should grow up into two different people and
nations ; that the family of the elder should be subject to that of
the younger; that in situation and other temporal advantage?
they should be much alike ; that the elder branch should delight
more in war and violence, but yet should be subdued by the
younger ; that however there should be a time when the elder
should have dominion, and shake off the yoke of the younger ;
but in all spiritual gifts and graces the younger should be greatly
superior, and be the happy instrument of conveying the blessing
to all nations.
I. The families of Esau and Jacob should grow up into two
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BISHOP NEWTON
different people and nations. "Two nations are in 'thy womb,
and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels."
The Edomitcs were t lie offspring of Esau, as the Israelites were
of Jacob ; and who but the author and giver of life could fore-
see, that two children in the womb would multiply into two
nations I Jacob had twelve sons, and their descendants all
united and incorporated into one nation; and what an over-
ruling providence then was it, that two nations should arise
iV.im the two sons only of Isaac? But they were not only to
:rmw up into two nations, but into two very different nations,
and two manner of people were to be separated from her bowels.
And have not the Edomitcs and Israelites been all along two
very different people in their manners and customs and reli-
gion-, which made them to be perpetually at variance one with
another] The children struggled together in the womb, which
was an omen and token of their future disagreement : and when
they were grown up to manhood, they manifested very different
inclinations. Esau was a "cunning hunter," and delighted in
the sports of the field: Jacob was more mild and gentle,
:t dwelling in tents," and minding his sheep and his cattle,
(Gen. xxv. 27.) Our English translation, agreeably to the
Septuagint and the Vulgate, 2 hath it that Jacob was a plain
man; but he appears from his whole conduct and behaviour to
have been rather an artful than a plain man. The 3 word in the
original' signifies perfect, which is a general term; but being
put in opposition to the rough and rustic manners of Esau, it
must particularly import that Jacob was more humane and gen-
tle, as 4 Philo the Jew understands it, and as Le Clerc translates
it. Esau slighted his birthright and those sacred privileges of
which Jacob was desirous, and is therefore called, (Ileb. xii. 16.)
the profane Esau : but Jacob was a man of better faith and re-
ligion. The like diversity ran through their posterity. The
religion of the Jews is very well known ; but whatever the
Edomites were at first, in process of time they became idola-
tors. Josephus 5 mentions an Idumean deity named Koze :
and Amaziah king of Judah, after he had overthrown the Edom-
ites, (2 Chron. xxiv. 14,) "brought their gods, and set them
up to lie his gods, and bowed down himself before them, and
burned incense unto them: which was monstrously absurd,
as the prophet remonstrates, (ver. 15,) "Why hast thou sought
after the gods of the people which could not deliver their own
people out of thine hand?' Upon these religious differences
und other accounts there was a continual grudge and enmity
3 iiir\aiT-or. Sep'- " simplex, " Villff,
3 Integer, perfrrtn*. " Inter."'!-," Syr.
h'i;:iiir. « iVifmiw," Onk. " Porfecius
virluiibus." Ara'j.
4 Vide Cleric, in loc. .Tarnhus vera mitis, fyc
— Ko£f . §tiv 5f toTjtiv 'Ifiovftiuot vofxt^ovtrU'.
Cnze ; quern Drum ex'mtimunl Idummi. An-
tiq. I. 15, c. 7, § 9.
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
41
between the two nations. The kinu" of Edom would not. sutler
the Israelites, in (heir return out of Euvpf, so much as lo pass
t.hiough his territories, (Numb. xx. ;) and t lie history of the
Edomites afterwards is little more than the history of their wars
willi the Jews.
II. The family of the elder should be snlijocf to that of the
younger. "And the one people shall lie stronger than the
other people, and the elder shall serve the younger," or as the
words may be rendered, the greater shall scree tin: lesser. The
family of Esau was the elder, and for some time the greater
and more powerful of the two, there having been dukes and
kings in Edom, "before there reigned any king oxer the chil-
dren of Israel," (Gen. xxxvi. 31.) But David and his cap-
tains made an entire conquest of the Edomites, slew several
thousands of them, (1 Kings xi. 1G, and 1 Chron. xviii. 12,)
and compelled the rest to become his tributaries and servants,
and planted garrisons among them to seenre their obedience.
(2 Sam. viii. 14,) "And he put garrisons in Edom; through-
out all Edom put he garrisons, and all they of Edom became
David's servants." In this state of servitude they continued
about 6 an hundred and fifty years, without a king of their own,
being governed by viceroys or deputies appointed by the kings
of Judah. In the reign of Jehoshaphat king of Judah it is
said, that, "there was then no king in Edom; a deputy was
king," (1 Kings xxii. 47.) But in the days of Jehoram his son,
they revolted, and recovered their liberties, " and made a king
over themselves," (2 Kings viii. 20.) But afterwards Amaziah
king of Judah "slew of Edom in the valley of salt ten thou-
sand, and took Selah by war, and called the name of it Jok-
theel, unto this day," says the sacred historian, (2 Kings xiv. 7.)
"And other ten thousand left alive, did the children of Judah
carry away captive, and brought them unto the top of the
rock," whereon Selah was built, "and cast them down from
the top of the rock, that they were broken all in pieces,"
(2 Chron. xxv. 12.) His son Azariah or Uzziah likexvise took
from them Elah, that commodious haven on the Red Sea, and
fortified it anexv, "and restored it to Judah," (2 Kings, xiv. 22 ;
2 Chron. xxvi. 2.) Judas Maccabaius attacked and defeated
them several times, "killed no fewer than txventy thousand 1 '
at one time, and "more than twenty thousand" at another, and
look their chief city " Hebron, and the toxvns thereof, and
pulled down the fortress of it, and burnt the towers thereof
round about," (2 Mace. x. 17, 23; 1 Mace. v. 65.) At last his
nephew, 7 Hyrcanus the son of Simon, took other of their cities,
and reduced them to the necessity of embracing the Jewish
6 From about the year of the world 2960, world 3115, before Christ 8S9. See Usher's
before Christ 1044, to about the year of the Annals. ' Juseph. An'.iq. 1. 13, c. 9, § 1.
4* ' F
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42 BISHOP NEWTON
religion, civ of Ir:r, big their country and seeking new habitations
eUw, here, v, hereupon they submitted to be circumcised, and
I „-,-M;ii-' ;>n>-'''\ its (o the Jewish religion, and ever after were
in.- »:•!■ ca.ed into tl)C Jew ish church and nation.
ill', Li -iiuaiion and oilier lomporal advances I hey should
alike. For ft was said to Jacob, " God give I lice of
d.-w of heaven, and of ihe fatness of the eartli, and plenty
i- ...i and wine:" and uracil the same is said to Esau, " lic-
h ihy dwelling shall be of the fulness of the earth, and of
da W of heaven from above." In this manner the latter
clau-e is translated in" Jerome's and the old versions; hut
some modern commentators ( 9 Casta! io, Le Clerc, &c.) render
it otherwise, that, his dwelling should be far from i/w faint .w of
tin earth, and fr:;iu the dew of hcaccn : and they say that Idu-
mea, the country of the Edomites, was a dry, barren, and desert
country. But it is not probable, that any good author should
use the 1 very same words with the veiy same prepositions in one
sense, and within a few hues after in a quite contrary samse.
Besides Esau solicited for a blessing; and the author of ihe
epi-tle to the Hebrews saith, (vi. 2D,) that "Isaac blessed Jacob
and E-au ;" whereas had he consigned Esau to such a barren
and wretched country, it would have been a curse rather than
a blessing. The spiritual blessing indeed, or the promise of
the blessed seed could be given only to one ; but temporal
good things might be communicated and imparted io both.
Mount Srir and the adjacent country was at first the possession
of the Edomites ; they afterwards extended themselves farther
hi to Arabia ; as they did afterwards into the southern parts of
Judea. But. wherever they were situated, we find in fact that,
the Edomites in temporal advantages w ere little inferior to the
Israelites. E-au had entile, and beasts, and substance in abun-
dance, and he went to dwell in Seir of his own accord, and he
would hardly have removed thither with so many cattle, had
it been such a barren and desolate country, as some would
represent it, (Gen. xxxiv. 6, 7, 3.) The Edomites had dukes
and knurs reigning over them, while the Israelites were slaves
in Egvpl. hi their return out of Egypt when the Israelites
desired leave to pass through the territories of Edom, it appears
that the country abounded with fruitful fields and vineyards ;
< ; let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country; we will not
■ "In pinguedino terra, et in roro c:eli seiks tua, ncque roro cfflli foeimdabitur.
* e *"J!' '{■' — Ncc sane Iiluma'a fscuncla aut piniui
■A tfrrn pm;:uitmtine aliunt." Crist. solo, aut lempestivis pluviis rigata fuit.
A piiuuwlinu rpiiili-rii i..rr;c mnota orit Clurioiis in locum.
1 Vi r. \iH. yiNri >:c-'~t co"-n Vco
lorrir: fiirif/iicdinihns do 01, noli roro do.
Ver.39. Sj"3 a---;-n s :; _, pNn , JS j^,
(Ics'ipcr cii-ii rore do el, torra pin^uediiiibus de.
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43
pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we
drink of the water of tire wells," (Numb. xx. 17.) And the
prophecy of Malachi, (i. 2,) which is commonly alleged as a
proof of the barrenness of the country, is rather an argument 1.0
the contrary: "And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and
his heritage waste, for the dragons of the wilderness :" for this
implies that the country was fruitful before, and that its present
uniruilfulness was rather an effect of war and devastation, than
any natural defect, and failure in the soil. If the country is bar-
ren and unfruitful now, so neither is Judea what it was formerly.
The face of any country is much changed in a long course of
years : and it is totally a different thing, when a country is
regularly cultivated by inhabitants living under a settled govern-
ment, than when tyranny prevails, and the land is left desolate.
It is also frequently seen that God, as the Psalmist saith, (cvii.
34,) "turncth a fruitful land into barrenness for the wickedness
of them that dwell therein."
IV. The elder branch should delight more in war and vio-
lence, but yet should be subdued by the younger. "And by
thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother." Esau
himself might be said to live much by the sword, for he "was
a cunning hunter, a man of the field," (Gen. xxv. 27.) He and
his children gat possession of Mount Seir by force and violence,
by destroying and expelling from thence the Horites, the former
inhabitants. (Deut. ii. 22.) We have no account, and therefore
cannot pretend to say, by what means they spread themselves
farther among the Arabians ; but it 2 appears, that upon a sedi-
tion and separation several of the Edomites came, and seized
upon the south-west parts of Judea during the Babylonish cap-
tivity, and settled there ever afterwaids. Both before and after
this they were almost continually at war with the Jews ; upon
every occasion they were ready to join with their enemies ; and
when Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem, they encouraged
him utterly to destroy the city, saying, "Raze it, raze it, even to
the foundation thereof," (Psal. exxxvii. 7.) Even long after they
were subdued by the Jews, they still retained the same martial
spirit, for 3 Josephus in his time giveth them the character of 'a
turbulent and disorderly nation, always erect to commotions and
rejoicing in changes, at the least adulation of those who beseech
them beginning war, and hastening to battles as it were to a
feast.' Agreeably to this character, a little before the last siege
3 Strabo. 1. 16, p. 1103. Prideaux Con- tuosam et ordinis impatieniem, ad motus in*
nect. part 1, b. 1, ann. 740. tentam semper et mutationibus gaudentem, ad
3 'Arc $opv65i&£f Kai araKrov l9vo^ ad rt modicam vera eorum qui supplicaTit adulatio-
picrtfopov rods ra Kivrjpara, Kai fitraSoXals nem arma moventem, et ad prmtia quasi ad
Jjrflipoi', T7ori< nMyr/v 5i) KaXaKiiav ruiv fitophiav festum properantem. De Betl. Juri. !. 4,
T'l 6V.V1 Kn urr, Kui KaQdircp ds ioprr/v ds raj c. 4, § 1. See too the following chapter.
r-xpard^ti imiy^^cvov. utpote geiitem tumul-
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BISHOP NEWTON
of Jerusalem, they came at, the entreaty of the zealots to assist
them against the priests and people, and there togetner with the
zealots committed unheard-of cruelties, and barbarously murdered
Attaints the high-priest, from whose death Josephus dateth the
dostrurtion of the city.
V. 1 low ever there whs to be a time when the elder should
have dominion, and shake off the yoke of the younger. "And
it shall come to pass when thou shalt have dominion, that thou
Jiali break his yoke from oil" thy neck." The word which we
translate have dominion is capable of various interpretations.
Some render it in the sense of laying down or shaking off, as the
J Septuagint and the Vulgar Latin, Jlnd it shall come to pass that
then shalt shake off, and shalt loose his yoke from off thy neck.
Some again render it in tire sense of mourning or repenting, as
the 5 Syriac, But if thou shalt repent, his yoke shall pass from off
thy neck. But the most common rendering and most approved
is, when thou shalt have dominion; and it is not said or meant,
that they should have dominion over the seed of Jacob, but
simply have dominion, as they had when they appointed a king
of their own. The 6 Jerusalem Targum thus paraphraseth the
whole, ' And it shall be when the sons of Jacob attend to the
law, and observe the precepts, they shall impose the yoke of
servitude upon thy neck; but when they shall turn themselves
away from studying the law, and neglect the precepts, behold
then thou shalt shake off the yoke of servitude from thy neck.'
David imposed the yoke, and at that time the Jewish people ob-
served the law. But the yoke was very galling to tire Edomites
from the first: and toward the latter end of Solomon's reign,
Haclad the Edomite, of the blood royal, who had been carried into
Egypt in his childhood, returned into his own country, and
raised some disturbances, (1 Kings xi.) but was not able to re-
cover his throne, 7 his subjects being overawed by the garrisons
which David had placed among them. But in the reign of
Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, "the Edomites
revolted from under the dominion of Judah, and made themselves
a king." Jehoram made some attempts to subdue them again,
but could not prevail. " So the Edomites revolted from under
the hand of Judah unto this day," saith the author of the books
of Chronicles, (2 Chron. xxi. 8, 10 :) and hereby this part of the
prophecy was fulfilled about nine hundred years after it was
delivered.
rl.v c,i ydv riiiTOu arrri roe Tpa%>'i\ov cov. Sept.
" leinpusque vcnict cum excutias et sotvas
n;it ejus de cervicibus tuis." Vulw.
' ; - At si pconitcntiam egcris, prmteribit
p^'MIM ejus a collo tuo." Svr.
'- '}'-,'. ei-it cum opcram dabunt fiiii Jacob
!e"i, et servabunt mandata, imponent jugum
scrvilutis super collum tuum : quando autem
averterint se filii Jacob, lit non studeant legi,
nec servaverint mandata, ecce tunc abrum-
pes juEiim scrvitutis eorum a collo tuo.'
Tare. Hieros.
' Joseph. Antiq. 1.8, c. 7, § 6.
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VI. Hut in all spiritual gifts and graces the younger should
he greatly superior, and he the happy instrument of conveying
the blessing to all nations. "In thee and in thy seed shall ail
the, families of the, earth he blessed:" and hitherto are to he
referred in their full force those expression.-!, " Let people serve
thee, and nations how down to thee;" "Cursed he everyone
that, curselli thee, and blessed he he that blesscth thee." The
same promise was made to Abraham in the name of Cod, "I
will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee,"
(Ceil. xii. 3 :) and it is here repeated to Jacob, and is thus para-
phrased in the 8 Jerusalem Targum, 'He who curseth thee, shall
he cursed, as Balaam the son of Beor : and he who blcsselh thee,
shall be blessed, as Moses the prophet, the lawgiver of Israel.'
It. appears that Jacob was a man of more religion, and believed
the divine promises more than Esau. The posterity of Jacob
likewise preserved the true religion and the worship of one God,
while the Edomites were sunk in idolatry. And of the seed of
Jacob was born at, last the Saviour of the world. This was the
peculiar privilege and advantage of Jacob, to be the happy instru-
ment of conveying these spiritual blessings to all nations. This
was his greatest, superiority over Esau: and in this sense St.
Paul understands and applies the prophecy, "the elder shall
serve the younger," (Rom. ix. 12.) The Christ, the Saviour of
the world, was to he born of some one family : and Jacob's was
preferred to Esau's out of the good pleasure of almighty God,
who is certainly the best judge of fitness and expedience, and
hath an undoubted right, to dispense his favours as he shall see
proper ; " for he saith to Moses, (as the apostle proceeds to
argue, ver. 15,) I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."
And when the Gentiles were converted to Christianity, the pro-
phecy was fulfilled literally, "Let people serve thee, and nations
bow down to thee ;" and will more amply be fulfilled, when
" the fulness of the Gentiles shall come in, and all Israel shall be
saved."
We have traced the accomplishment of the prophecy from
the beginning; and we find that the nation of the Edomites
hath at several times been conquered by and made tributary
to the Jews, but never the nation of the Jews to the Edomites,
and the Jews have been the more considerable people, more
known in the world, and more famous in history. We know
indeed little more of the history of the Edomites, than as it is
connected with that of the Jews : and where is the name or the
nation now 1 They were swallowed up and lost, partly among
1 1 Quisquis maledixerat tibi Jacob fili mi,
erat maledictus, sicut Balaam filius Beor:
quisquis autem benedixerit tibi erit benedic-
tus, sicut Moses propheta, legislator Israel-
itarum.' Targ. Hieros.
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BISHOP NEWTON
the Nahathrcan Aral)?, and partly among the Jews ; and the very
name was J abolished and disused aboui. the end of the first cen-
tury after Christ. Thus were they rewarded for insulting and
oppressing their brethren the Jews, and hereby other prophecies
were liillillcd of Jeremiah, (xlix. 7, &c.) of Ezckicl, (xxv. 12, &c.)
of Joel, (iii. 19,) Amos, (i. 11, &c.) and Obadiah. And at this
day we see the Jews subsisting as a distinct people, while Edora
is no mure. For agreeably to (lie words of Obadiah, (ver. 10,)
" 1'or thy violence against thy brother Jacob, shame shall cover
(lice, and (lion shalt be cut off for ever:" and again, (ver. 18,)
"there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau, for the
Lord hath spoken it."
IV. — Jacob's prophecies concerning his sons,
PARTICULARLY JUDAH.
IT is an opinion of great antiquity, that the nearer men ap-
proach to their dissolution, their souls grow more divine,
and discern more of futurity. We find this opinion as early as
Homer, 1 for he represents the dying Patroclus foretelling the
fate of Hector, and the dying Hector denouncing no less cer-
tainly the death of Achilles. Socrates, in his Apology to the
Athenians, a little before his death 2 asserts the same opinion.
'But now,' saith he, 'I am desirous to prophecy to you who
have condemned me, what will happen hereafter. For now I am
arrived at that state, in which men prophecy most, when they
are about to die.' His scholar 3 Xenophon introduces the dying
Cyrus declaring in like manner, 'that the soul of man at the
hour of death appears most, divine, and then foresees some-
thing of future events.' Diodorus Siculus 4 allegeth great au-
thorities upon this subject; Pythagoras the Samian, and some
others of the ancient naturalists, have demonstrated that the
3 Sep Priilcaux Connect, part 1, b. 5, an-
no 121.
1 Hum. Iliad, stvi. IHaH. xsii. 358.
2 Tb rt f !j ycrti rnuro inOvpti bfltv XP1~
Cfiiii i^tit. t, t KaTH^Tj<pirra[iEVol /tov Kat ydp
tun iri'ri irrnvOn iv <'<j //r<><ar' avBotiiirot x or t m
itfii.irnT-cii; bnir ptiXtaatv airoOitviicOat. Jam
urn, O vtt. qui me condemhaslis, rvpio votiis
firum T(rnrn, qum ral.is sunt ercnturtr, casus
quasi orueuta prtrdicere : in ilium mini tern-
|/wis Ktutvin jam pcreeni, in qua homines tli-
lirtamli fncullatc ntaxime patient, qunndo
numrum morlituri sunt. Pialonis Apolug.
ii..'T. S SO, vol. 1, p. 39, Edit. Sorran.
3 '11 It Tov aiOodj-av T v\'l rdrt l))itov 3c(0-
'■irn KiiTaipulvLTat, Kal Tore rt TVv ftlX^^vrwv
itooopiji. ac hominis animus turn scilicet mass
ime divinus pcrspicitur, et htm futurorum
aliquid jirospicit. Xenoph. Cyrop. 1. 8, c. 7,
§ 21.
4 Uv0ay6pag b la^ioff tea} rive; ercpot roiv
ra^atuv (pvctK&v &ir£$$vavro rds i^u^etff rGiv
avOowtruv hrdpxtiv ddavdrovs' aKo\ov6o)S $1
T'f' cdyuuri rouTo; Kal npuyiyrunrKclv aiiras T&
fieWovra, «a0' iJv uv Kaipbv tv rj/ TcXtvrfj rdv
drtb Totj auiaarog %ti}ptcptdv voiuvral, Pytha-
goras Sumius, el quidam physicorumveterum
alii, immortalcs esst hominum animus conjir-
marunt ; et quod hujus sentential conscctari-
um est, pramoscere futura, cum, imminente
vittB exitu, jamjam a corpore s?gregantur.
Lib. 18, c. 1.
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
47
souls of mm nrc immortal, and in consequence of (his opinion
that, they also foreknow future cvf-nis, at. the prune time that
they are making their separation from the body in death.'
^exMus Empiricus 5 confirms it likewise by (he authority of Aris-
totle; 'the soul, sa.it h Aristotle, foresees and forctels future
events, when it. is going to be separated from the body by
d'-alh.' We might produce more testimonies to ibis purpose
from Cicero, and Eustathius upon Homer, and from other
authors, if there was occasion; but these are sufficient to show
the great antiquity of this opinion. 6 And it is possible, that
old experience 7 may in some cases attain to something like
prophecy and divination. In some instances also God may
have been pleased to comfort and enlighten departing souls
with a prescience of future events. But what I conceive might
principally give rise to this opinion, was the tradition of some
of the patriarchs being divinely inspired in their last moments
to foretel the state and condition of the people descended from
them ; as Jacob upon his death-bed summoned his sons toge-
ther f hat he might inform them of what should befall them in
the Jaltrr days, or the last days; by which phrase some com-
mentators understand the times of the Messiah, or the last
great period of the world; and Mr. Whiston particularly 3 as-
serts, that it is generally, if not always, a characteristic and
Knirfipwv of prophecies not to be fulfilled till the coming of the
Messiah : and accordingly he supposes that these prophecies
of Jacob more properly belong to the second coming of the
Messiah, at the restoration of the twelve tribes hereafter. But
the phrase of the latter days or last days in the Old Testament
signifies any time that is yet to come, though sometimes it
may relate to the times of the Messiah in particular, as it com-
prehends all future time in general : and hence it is used in
prophecies that respect different times and periods. " I will
advertise thee, (saith Balaam to Balak, Numb. xxiv. 14,) what
this people shall do to thy people in the latter days:" but
what the Israelites did to the Moabites, was done long before
the times of the Messiah. "I know, (saith Moses, Deut. xxxi.
29,) that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves,
6 H 4' V X^ ^wlv 'Ap«rrorf.\jK, vpopavTiic-
rat Kal itpoayoptutt ra plWovTa — fi» r<3 KarH
Monrov xuplfy<r9cn tup auiudrw. ' Adv.
Alathem. p. 1312.
c Shakspeare. alludes to this notion in
Henry IV. First Part.
' O, I could prophesy,
But that :he earthy and cold hand of death
Lies on my tongue.'
The same notion is also happily expressed
jn a most excellent Latin poem, De Animi
Lmmortalitate, which is deserving of a place
among classic authors ; in richness of poetry
equals Lucretius, and in clearness and
strength of argument exceeds him.
'Namque ubi torpescunt artus jam morte
propinqua,
Acrior est acies turn mentis, et entheus
ardor ;
Tempore non alio facundia suavior, atque
Fatidice jam turn voces morientis ab
ore.'
* Alluding to these lines of Milton,
'Till old experience do attain
To something like prophetic strain.
• Boylo's Lectures, vol. 2, p. 311.
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43
BISHOP NEWTON
and turn aside frem the way which 1 have commanded yon, and
evil will befall you in (lie latter days:" where the latter days are
much (he same as the time after the death of Moses. "There is
a (Jot! in heaven, (saith Daniel, ii. 23,) that reveal eth secrets,
and maketh known to the, king Nebuchadnezzar, what shall he
in the la! lev days:" hut several particulars are (here foretold of
ihe lour great monarchies of (lie earth, which were fulfilled be-
fnre the "coining of the Messiah. And in like manner these
prophecies of Jacob were, many or most of them, accomplished
undit the Mosaic economy, several ages before the birth of our
Saviour.
Jacob, as wc have seen, received a double blessing, tempo-
ral and spiritual, the promise of the hind of Canaan, and the
promise of the seed in which till the nations of the earth should
lie blessed; which promises were first made to Abraham, and
then repeated to Isaac, and then confirmed to Jacob; and
Jacob a little before his death bequeaths the same to his chil-
dren. The temporal blessing or inheritance of the land of
Canaan might be shared and divided among all his sons, but the
blessed seed could descend only from one : and Jacob accor-
dingly assigns to each a portion in the promised land, but limits
(he descent of the blessed seed to the tribe of Judah, and at the
same time sketches out the characters and fortunes of all the
tribes.
He adopts the two sons of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim,
for his own, but foreteis that the younger should be the greater
of the two, (Gen. xlviii. 19:) and hath not the prediction been
fully justified by the event? The tribe of Ephraim grew to be
so numerous and powerful, that it is sometimes put for all the
ten tribes of Israel. Of Reuben it is said, (Gen. xlix. 4,)
" Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel :" and what is re-
corded great or excellent of the tribe of Reuben 1 In number
(Numb, i.) and power they were inferior to several other tribes.
—Of Simeon and Levi it is said, (ver. 7,) "I will divide them
in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel :" and was not this emi-
nently fulfilled in the tribe of Levi, who had no portion or in-
heritance of their own, but were dispersed among the other
tribes'? Neither had the tribe of Simeon any inheritance pro-
perly of their own, but only a portion in the midst of the
tribe of Judah, (Josh. xix. 1 — 9,) from whence several of them
afterwards went in quest of new habitations, (1 Chron. iv. 39,
&c.) and so were divided from the rest of their brethren. A
constant tradition too 3 hath prevailed among the Jews, (which
* 1 Tradunt epioque Hebrai, scribas, pce-
dotribas, pacdagogos, et doctores puerorum
fere (rallies ex tribu Schimeon fuisse, qui,
ut haberent unde viverent, sparsim et oppi-
datim pueros informare cogebantur. Cui
tentenlia? adstipulatur et Thargum Hieros.
&c.' Fagius.
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
49
is also confirmed l>y 1 1 1 c Jerusalem Targum) that the tribe of
Simeon were so stoutened in their situation and circumstances,
that, great numbers were necessitated to seek a subsistence
among tbe oilier tribes, by teaching and instructing their chil-
dren.— Of Zcbulun it is said, (ver. 13,) " He sliall dwell at the
haven of tbe sen, and shall be for an haven of ships :" anil ac-
cordingly the tribe of Zcbulun extended from the sea of Galilee
to the Mediterranean, (Josh. xix. 10, &o.) where they had
commodious havens for shipping. And how could Jacob have
foretold the situation of any tribe, which was determined 200
years afterwards by casting of lots, unless lie had been directed
by that divine Spirit, who disposelh of all events?— Of Ben-
jamin it is said, (ver. 27,) " He shall ravin as a wolf:*' and was
not that a fierce and warlike tribe, ns appears in several in-
stances, and particularly in the case of (lie Lcvite's wife, (Judg.
xx.) w hen they alone waged war against all the ether tribes,
and overcame them in two battles 1
In this manner he characterizes these and the other tribes,
and foretels their temporal condition, and that of Judah ns well
ns the rest: " Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt
unto the choice vine, he washed his garments in wine, and his
clot lies in tbe blood of grapes. His eyes shall be red with wine,
and his teeth white with milk," (ver. 11, 12:) and not to men-
tion the valley of Eshcol and other fruitful places, the moun-
tains about Jerusalem, by the accounts of the best travellers,
were particularly fitted for the cultivation of the vine, and for
the feeding of cattle. ' The blessing,' says Dr. Shaw, 1 ' that
was given to Judah, was not of the same kind, with the bless-
ing of Asher or of Issachar that " his bread should be fat," or
" his land should be pleasant," but that " his eyes should be
red with wine, and his teeth should be white with milk."' He
farther observes that 'the mountains of the country abound with
shrubs and a delicate short grass, both which the cattle are more
fond of, than of such plants as are common to fallow grounds
and meadows. Neither was this method of grazing peculiar to
this country; inasmuch as it is still practised all over Mount
Libanus, the Castravan mountains, and Barbary ; in all which
places the higher grounds are set apart for this use, and the
plains and valleys for tillage. For besides the good manage-
ment and economy, there is this farther advantage, that the
milk of cattle fed in this manner is far more rich and delicious,
as their flesh is more sweet and nourishing. — It may be pre-
sumed likewise, that the vine was not neglected, in a soil and
exposition so proper for it to thrive in.' He mentions particu-
larly, ' the many tokens which are to be met with, of the an-
cient vineyards about Jerusalem and Hebron,' and ' the great
1 Shaw's Travels, p. 366, 367.
5 G
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50
BISilOP NEWTON.
quantity of grapes and raisins, which are from thence brought
daily to the nuui-TOls of Jerusalem, and sent yearly to Egypt.'
But Jacob bequeaths to Judah particularly the spiritual
blcssiiiir, and delivers it in much tiie same form of words that
it was delivered to him. Isaac had said to Jacob, (Gen.
xvvii. -0,) " Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to
thee; be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow
down to thee:" and here Jacob saith to Judah, (vcr. 8,) "Thou
art he whom thy brethren shall praise ; thy hand shall be in the
neck of thy enemies ; thy father's children shall bow down be-
fore thec." And for greater certainty it is added, (ver. 10,) "The
sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from be-
tween his feet, until Shiloh come, and unto him shall the ga-
thering of the people be." I will not trouble the reader or my-
self with a detail of the various interpretations which have been
put upon this passage, but will only offer that which appears
to me the plainest, easiest, and best; I will first explain the
words and meaning of the prophecy, and then show the full and
exact completion of it. They who are curious to know the va-
rious interpretations of the learned, may find an account of
them in 2 Huetius and 3 Le Clerc : but no one hath treated the
subject in a more masterly manner than the present 4 Lord
Bishop of London ; and we shall principally tread in his foot-
steps, as we cannot follow a better guide.
f. "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah." The word sso
shebet, which we translate a sceptre, signifies a rod or staff of
any kind ; and particularly the rod or staff which 5 belonged to
each tribe as an ensign of their authority; and thence it is
transferred to signify a tribe, as being united under one rod or
staff of government, or a ruler of a tribe ; and in this sense it
is used twice in this very chapter, (ver. 16,) " Dan shall judge
his people as one of the tribes" or rulers "of Israel ;" and again,
(ver. 28,) " All these are the twelve tribes " or rulers "of Israel."
It hath the same signification in 2 Sam. vii. 7, " In all the places
wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel, spake I
a word with any of the tribes" or rulers "of Israel, (in the
parallel place of Chronicles, 1 Chron. xvii. 6, it is judges of
hruel,) whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying,
Why build ye not me an house of cedar 1" The word doth in-
deed sometimes signify a sceptre, but that is apt to convey an
2 Demonstrate Evangelica, Prop. 9,
c. 4.
3 Comment, in locum.
4 Seo the 31 Dissertation in Bishop
Sherlock's Discourses of the Use and In-
tent of Prophecy.
1 Bishop Sherlock hath cited to this
purpose Menochius de Repub. Heb. ]. 1,
•> 4. ' Traductum vero nomcn est ad signi-
ficandum tribum— quod unaquaeque tribus
suam pecnliarem virgam haberet, nomino
suo inscriptam, quam tribuum principes
— manu gesiare consueverant. — Cum Do-
minus Aaronem his v eru is alloquitur, Sed
et fratrcs turn de Iribu Levi, et sceplrum pa-
trin tui sume tecum, intellige sceptrum ip-
surn, et totam tribum quEE sceptre signifi-
cabatur, et regebatur.'
J ' m « VVh„, u
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<>X THE PUOrnECIES.
5!
idea of kinglv authority, which was not tin; thing intruded licre :
and (in; Seventy' translate it ,;„ x ,.-v a nd-r, which answers
heller In a lawgiver in 1 1 10 following clause. It could not wit li
n,n \" sort of propriety In; said, that " the scepire should not de-
part from Jutlah," when Judah had no scepire, nor was to have
any for many generations afterwards: hut .ludah had a rod or
stall' of a tribe, for he was then constituted a tribe as well as
the rest of his brethren. The very same expression occurs in
Zechariah, (v. 11,) "and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart
away," which implies that Egypt had a sceptre, and that that
sceptre should be taken away: but no grammar or language,
could justify the saying that JudalCs sceptre should depart or he
taken away, before Judah was in possession of any scepire.
Would it not therefore be better, to substitute the word stttif
or ruler instead of sceptre, unless we restrain the meaning of a
scepire to a rod or stall of a tribe, which is all that is here in-
tended ] The staff or ruler shall not depart from Judah. The
tribeship shall not depart from Judah. Such authority as Judah
had then, was to remain with his posterity. It is not said or
meant, that he should not cease from being a king or having a
kingdom, for he was then no king, and had no kingdom; but
only that he should not cease from being a tribe or body politic,
having rulers and governors of his own, till a certain period here
foretold.
" Nor a lawgiver from between his feet." The sense of the
word sceptre will help us to fix and determine the meaning of
the other word pp"d mechokek, which we translate a lawgiver.
For if they are not synonymous, they are not very different.
Such as the government is, such must be the lawgiver. The
government was only of a single tribe, and the lawgiver could
be of no more. Nor had the tribe of Judah at any time a legisla-
tive authority over all the other tribes, no, not even in the reigns
of David and Solomon. When David appointed the oflicers for
the service of the temple, (1 Chron. xxv. 1 ; Ezra viii. 20 ;) and
when Solomon was appointed king, and Zadok priest, (1 Chron.
xxix. 22;) these things were done with the consent and ap-
probation of the princes and rulers of Israel. Indeed the whole
nation had but one law, and one lawgiver in the strict sense of
the word. The king himself was not properly a lawgiver ; he
was only to have "a copy of the law," to "read therein," and
to " turn not aside from the, commandment, to the right hand
or to the left," (Deut. xvii. 18, &c.) Moses was truly, as he is
styled, "the lawgiver," (Numb. xxi. 18; Deut. xxxiii. 21 ;) and
when the word is applied to any other person or persons, as
Judah is twice called by the Psalmist, (Psal. lx. 7, cviii. 8,)
" my lawgiver," it is used in a lower signification. For it sig-
* Ota »Xci^c apx<i>v «| 'lovSi . Sept.
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BISHOP NEWTON
nifics not only a. lawgiver, but a judge; not. only one who
maketh laws, bill, likewise one who exerciselh jurisdiction:
and in I be 7 Greek it is translated iyvititws ;i leader or president,
in the 8 Clialdee a scribe, in I be Vyriao an ezpovilor, and in our
Entrlish JJililc it is elsewhere translated a governor, as in judges,
(v. 1 I,) " Out of Macliir came down governors', and out of Zebii-
luii they that handle the pen of the writer." The lawgiver there-
fore is to be taken in a restrained sense as well as (he sceptre:
and perhaps it cannot lie translated belter tha n judge : Nora
judge from between his feel. Whether we understand, that a
judge from between his feel shall not depart from, Judah, or a judge
shall not depart from between his feel, I conceive the meaning to
be much the same, that there should not, be wanting a judge
of the race and posterity of Judah, according to the Hebrew
phrase of children's coming from between the feel. They who
expound it of silting at the feci oj Judah, seem not lo have con-
sidered that this w as the place of scholars, and not of judges
and doctors of the law. As Dan (ver. lb') was lo "judge bis
people as one of the tribes, or rulers, of Israel ;" so was Judah.,
and with this particular prerogative, that, the stall' or ruler
should not depart from Juduli, nor a judge from between his j eel,
until the time here foretold, which we are now to examine and
ascertain.
" Until Shiloh come," that is, until the coming of the Messiah,
as almost all interpreters, both ancient and modern, agree. For
howsoever they may explain the word, and whencesoever the}'
may derive it, the Messiah is the person plainly intended. — The
Vulgar Latin 1 translates it 'Qui mitlcndtis est,' lie -who is lo be
sent; and to favour this version that passage in St, John's Gos-
pel, (ix. 7,) is usually cited, " Go wash in the pool of Siloam,
which is by interpretation sent :" and who was ever sent with
such power and authority from God as (he Messiah, who fre-
quently spcaketh of himself in the gospel under the denomi-
nation of him whom the Father hath sent? — The Seventy 2 trans-
late it ra aTOKtijicva avnTi, the things reserved for him, or according
to other copies ? inUurai, he for ichom it is reserved : and what
was the great treasure reserved lor Judah, or who was the
person for whom all things were reserved, hut the Messiah,
whom we have declaring in the gospel, (Matt. xi. 27,) "All
things are delivered unto me of my Father," and again, (xxviii.
18,) "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth'?" —
The Syriac translates it to the same purpose, 'is cujus illud est,'
he whose it is, I suppose meaning the kingdom ; anil the Arabic
T Kfii fiyabptvas iktwv pfipuiv ahrod. Sept. loach inslrad of nj^iy Sltifok, and halh de-
* 'Neque scriba a liliis filiorum ejus.' rived it from n^ltf Shuluch, mint, the mis-
Chald. take being easy of n eft fur n A.
* 1 Et expositor de inter pedes ejus.' Syr. 2 Deriving it from if sliquodor qua, and
1 As if St. Jerome had read nfrior A'fti- |V to «'.
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ON THE PROPHECIES. 5S
'Ciljus ipso est,' whose he is, I suppose meaning Judah: and
whose, was Judith, or whose was ihc kingdom so properly as the
Messiah's, who is so many limes predicted tinder the character
of /Ae kins; of Israel? — Junius and Treuiellius with others 3 trans-
late it. ' films ejus,' his son: and who could he this son of Judah
hy way of eminence, hut (he .Messiah, "the seed in which all
the nations of the earth shall he Mussed?" — In the Samaritan
text and version it is « pacificus,' the peace-maker; and 4 this
perhaps is the hest explication of the word: and to whom can
(his or any the like title he so justly applied as to the Messiah,
who is emphatically styled, (Is. ix. 6,) "the prince of peace,"
and at whose birth was sung that heavenly anthem, (Luke ii. 14,)
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will
towards men 1"
These are the principal interpretations, and whichever of
these you prefer, the person understood must be the Messiah.
P)Ut the learned Mr. Le Clerc would explain the text in such a
maimer as utterly to exclude the Messiah : and he was a very
able commentator, the best perhaps upon the Pentateuch ; but
like other learned men, he was sometimes apt to indulge
strange unaccountable fancies. Of this kind, I conceive, is
his interpretation of this prophecy; for he 5 says that Shiloh sig-
nifies 'finis ejus ant cessatio,' his end or ceasing, and that it may
be referred to the lawgiver, or to the sceptre, or even to Judah
himself. But if it be referred to the lawgiver, or to the sceptre,
what is it but an unmeaning tautology? "There shall be a law-
giver as long as there shall be a lawgiver, There shall not be an end
of the sceptre till the end of the sceptre come ? If it be referred to
Judah or the tribe of Judah, the thing is by no means true ; for
the tribe of Judah subsisted, long after they had lost the king-
dom, and were deprived of all royal authority. Not many
readers, I imagine, will concur with this learned commentator.
The generality of interpreters, Jewish as well as Christian, have
by Shiloh always understood the Messiah. The Targum of
Onkelos is commonly 6 supposed to have been made before our
Saviour's time, and he 7 thus expresseth the sense of the passage,
'There shall not be taken away one having the principality
5 As if it was derived from pi» Shil,pro-
fl'iriam Mnauinis, or rnStf ShiUjnh, secun-
'lintt, that wherein the infant is wrapped,
and thence by a metonymy the infant itself.
4 I look upon the word m^ty Shiloh to
be derived from the verb nSc Shalah, tran-
quillity parificusfuit, in the same manner as
iiep htur, Junius, is formed from -rap katnr,
lujfumigavil : and there are other words of
that formation.
1 He says that rrrjup Shiloh is the same
ss h'V Shilo, and Shil may be derived
5*
from Vi» Shul, and Shut is the same as rhv
Sh'ttah, which in Chaldee signifies ccssarr,
demiere — 'Jinis aut cessatio vertl poteril.
Hoc posito, Jims ejus poterit ad legislatorem
aut ad sceptrum ri'ferri, aut eliam ad ipsain
Judam.' Comment, in locum.
6 See Prideaux. Connect. Part. 2, B. 8,
Anno 37.
7 l Non auferetur habens principattim a
dorao Juda?, neque scriba a hliis filiorum
ejus, vstpie in secvlum ; donee veniat Mes-
sias, cujus est regnum.'
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54 BISHOP NEWTON
from (lie hou>e of Judah, nor a scribe from his children's cliiJ-
dren, lill Mes-ias come whose is I hi: kingdom.' Anil with liim
ttirrt •«• llio oilier Targums or Chaldce paraphrases, and the au-
thor- of tin- Talmud, and oilier aneicnl and modern Jews, whom
iho reader may sec ciled in ihiMorl upon llie word. So that, i
lliink. mi don'ol can remain, (hat by (lie coming oj Shiloli, is meant
(he ri-uiing oj the . Messiah.
- And unto him shall the gathering nftho people bo," or obe-
ilif ,i:< of the people, as it is otherwise translaled. These words
; capable of three different constructions ; and each so probable,
that it is not easy to say which was certainly intended by the
author. For, 1. they may relate to Judah, who is the main
subject of the prophecy, and of the discourse preceding t.tid fol-
lowing; and by the people we may understand t lie people oi
l-rael : and (ben the. meaning will be, that the other tribes
should be gathered to (he tribe of Judah ; which sense is
approved by Le Clerc and seme late commentators. Or, 2.
they may relate to Shiloh, who is (he person mentioned im-
mediately" before ; and by r the people we may understand the
Gentiles: and then the meaning will be that the Gentiles
should he gathered or become obedient to the Messiah; which
sense is consonant to other texts of Scripture, and is confirmed
by the authority of most ancient interpreters; only 8 some of
them render it, and he shall he the expectation of the nation. Or, 3,
they ma}' still relate to Shiloh, and yet not be considered as a
distinct clause, but be joined iu construction with the preceding
words ioif/7 Shiloh come, the word until being common to both
( arts; and then the sentence will rim thus, until Shiloh come
and to him the gathering or obedience of the people, that is, until
the Messiah come, and until the people or nations be gathered
to his obedience ; which sense is preferred by the most learned 9
Mr. Mede and some others. And each of these interpretations
may very well be justified by (he event.
II. Having thus explained the words and meaning of the
prophecy, I now proceed to show the full and exact completion
of it. The twelve sons of Jacob arc here constituted twelve
tribes or heads of tribes, (ver. 28,) "AH these are the twelve
tribes of Israel ; and this it is that their father spake unto them,
and blessed them ; every one according to his blessing he
blessed them." To Judah particularly it was promised, that
"the sceptre or rod of the tribe, should not depart from him,
nor a lawgiver, or judge, from between his feet;" his tribe
should continue a distinct tribe with rulers and judges and go-
■ "El ipse erit expoctatio gentium." Valandi Dissert, cni titulus: Prater e me-
\tik', following the Sept. kiiI uitrb; ztion^o- rlin ciriitm Jud, ante MtftifttB imperium uni-
ah <i)idv. who probably derived tin: word vmulf non alisrr.vmriis. Sylloge Dissertat.
Ii .tit rr.;) rrprrtarit. v. i. Matin's Crit. Note in locum.
* See Mede's Discourse vui. et Givliofi-.
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55
vernors of its own, unljl tins coming of 'lie Messiah. The pco-
pl(! of Israel after litis seltlemenl ol iln'ii' go\ eminent, were reck-
oned hv llieir tribes, Iml. lie\er hefnre. Il appears tlliil lliey
were, reckoned hv their tribes and according lo llieir lamilies,
while ! hey sojourned ill Eg\ p( : and the ti'ihe of .Juditll made
as considerable a figure as any of llieni. In number it was su-
perior to the o( Ik-is, (Numb, i. and wvi.:) il had ihe lirst, rank
in the armies of Israel, (Numb. it.:) it inarched lirsl against, (he.
Canaanites, (Judg. i.:) and upon all occasions manifested such
courage as fully answered the character given of it, (vcr. !),)
"Juilah is a lion's whelp; from the prey, my son, I lion art gone
up: he slooped down, he couclicil as a lion, and as an old lion,
who shall rouse him up !" If the first king of Israel was of the
tribe of Benjamin, ihe second was of the tribe of Judah ; and
from that time, lo the Babylonish captivity Judah had not only
the sceptre of a tribe, but likewise the sceptre of a kingdom.
When it was promised to Judah particularly that the sceptre
should not depart from him, it was implied that it should de-
part from the other tribes: and accordingly ihe tribe of Ben-
jamin became a sort of appendage to the kingdom of Judah;
and the other ten tribes were after a time carried away captive
into Assyria, from whence they never returned. The Jews also
were carried captive to Babylon, but returned after seventy
years : and during their captivity they were far from being
treated as slaves, as it appears from the prophet's advice to
them, (Jerem. xxix. 5, &c ;) "Build ye houses, and dwell in
them ; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them, &c." and
many of them were so well fixed and settled at Babylon, and
lived there in such ease and aflluence, that they refused to re-
turn to their native country. In their captivity they were still
allowed to live as a distinct people, appointed feasts and fasts
for themselves, and had rulers and governors of their own, as
we may collect from several places in Ezra and Nehemiah.
When Cyrus had issued his proclamation for the rebuilding of
the temple, "then rose up the chief of the fathers," saiih Ezra,
(i. 5 ;) so that they had chiefs and rulers among them. Cyrus
ordered the vessels of the temple to be delivered to "the prince
of Judah," (Ezra i. 8 ;) so that they had then a prince of Judah.
And these princes and rulers, who are often mentioned, ma-
naged their return and settlement afterwards. It is true that
after the Babylonish captivity they were not so free a people
as before, living under the dominion of the Persians, Greeks,
and Romans ; but still they lived as a distinct people under
their own laws. The authority of their rulers and elders sub-
sisted under these foreign masters, as it had even while they
were in Egypt. It subsisted under the Asmonean princes, as
it had under the government of the Judges, and Samuel and
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BISHOP NEWTON
Saul ; for in the bonks of Maccabees I here is frequent mention
of the rulers and chirrs and council of the Jews, and of public acts
ami memorial* in tlieir name. Il subsisted even in our Sa-
viour's iinii', for in t lie Gospels ;v« read often of the chief priests
(.', .' ;'„< .-rrilirs and the elders of the people. Tlieir jxm er indeed
in i-aplial causes, especially such as related to the stale, was
abridged in some measure; lliey might judije, bui not execute
v, iihout (he consent of (lie Tinman governor, as I think we must
in, er from this passage, (John xviii. 31:) "Tlien said Pilate
unto tliom, Take ye him, and j ml ire. him according In your law :
i lie .lews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put
any man to death." The sceptre was then departing, and in
about forty years afterwards it totally departed. Their city
was taken, their tempie was destroyed, and they themselves
were either slain with the sword, or sold for slaves. And from
that time to this thev have never formed one body or society,
but have been dispersed among all nations; their Irihcs and
genealogies have been all confounded, and they have lived with-
out a ruler, without a lawgiver, and without supreme authority
and government in any part of the earth. And this a cap-
tivity not for seventy years, but for seventeen hundred. 'Nor
will they ever be able, (as the learned 'prelate expresscth it,)
after all their pretences, to show any signs or marks of the
greptre among them, till they discover the unknown country,
where never mankind dwelt, and where the apocryphal Esdras
has placed their brethren of the ten tribes.' (2 Esd. xiii. 41.)
We have seen the exact completion of the former part of the
prophecy, and now let us attend to that of the latter part, "And
unto him shall the gathering of the people he." If we under-
stand this of Judah, that the other tribes should be gathered
to that tribe, it was in some measure fulfilled by the people's
going up so frequently as they did to Jerusalem, which was in
the tribe of Judah, in order to obtain justice in difficult cases,
and to worship God in his holy temple. "Whither the tribes
go up, (saith the Psalmist, exxii. 4, 5,) the tribes of the Lord;
unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of
the Lord. For there are set. thrones of judgment ; the thrones
of lie; house of David." Upon (he division of the kingdoms
of I-rael and Judah, the tribe of Benjamin, and the priests and
Levites, and several out of all the other tribes, (2 Chron. xi.
1.3, 10,) went over to Judah, and were so blended and incorpo-
rated together, that they are more than once spoken of under
the notion of "one tribe," (1 Kings xi. 13, 32, 3G:) and it is
.-aid expressly, (1 Kings xii. 20,) "there was none that followed
tin house of David, but (lie tribe of Judah only;" all the rest
Acre swallowed up in that tribe, and considered as parts and
1 Bishop Sherlock's Diswrtat. 3d, p. 331, Edit. 5.
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
57
members of it. In like mnnnrr, when (lie Israelites were car-
ried away captive into Assyria, if i-; s;iid, (2 King's xvii. 18,)
"there was none left but the tribe, of .Judah only :" and yet we
know that the tribe of Benjamin, and ninny of the other tribes,
remained too, but, they are reckoned as one and the same tribe
asJudah. Nay at this very time then; was a remnant of Israel,
that escaped from the Assyrians, and went, and adhered to
Jndah : for we find afterwards, that in the reiirn of Josiah there
were some, "of Manasseh and Ephraim and of the remnant of
Israel," who contributed money to the repairing of the temple,
as well as " Judah and Benjamin," (2 Chrcm. xxxiv. 9 ;) and at
the solemn celebration of the passover some "of Israel were
present as well as all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem."
When the people returned from the Babylonish captivity, then
again several of the tribes of Israel associated themselves, and
returned with Judah and Benjamin; "and in Jerusalem dwelt,
of the children of Judah, and of the children of Benjamin, and
of the children of Ephraim and Manasseh," (1 Cbron. ix. 3.)
At so many different times, and upon such different occasions,
the other tribes were gathered to this tribe, insomuch that Jndah
became the general name of the whole nation ; and after the Ba-
bylonish captivity, they were no longer called dispeople of Israel,
but t he people of Judah or Jews.
Again ; if we understand this of Shiloh or the Messiah, that
the people or Gentiles should be gathered to his obedience, it
is no more than is foretold in many other prophecies of Scripture ;
and it began to be fulfilled in Cornelius the centurion, whose
conversion (Acts x.) was as I may say the first fruits of the
Gentiles, and the harvest afterwards was Very plenteous. In a
few years the gospel was disseminated, and " took root down-
ward, and bore fruit upward" in the most considerable parts of
the world then known : and in Constantine's time, when the
empire became Christian, it might with some propriety be said,
"the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our
Lord, and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever."
(Rev. xi. 15.) We ourselves were of the Gentiles, but are now
gathered unto Christ.
Lastly, if we join this in construction with the words pre-
ceding "until Shiloh come," two events are specified as fore-
runners of the sceptre's departing from Judah, the coming of
the Messiah, and the gathering of the Gentiles to him ; and
these together point out with greater exactness the precise
time of the sceptre's departure. Now it is certain that before
the destruction of Jerusalem, and the dissolution of the Jewish
commonwealth by the Romans, the Messiah was not only
come, but great numbers likewise of the Gentiles were con-
verted to him. The very same thing was predicted by our Sa-
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BISHOP NEWTON
viour himself, (Mall. xxiv. 14,) "This gospel of the kingdom
shall lie preached in all the world, for a witness unto all na-
tions, and Iheu shall ihe end come;" the destruction of Jeru-
salem, and end of (he Jewish constitution. The Jews were not
to he nil oilj till the Gentiles were grafted inlo the church.
And in fact we find that (lie apostles and their companions
preached the gospel in all the parts of the world then known.
'•Their sound, (as St. Paul applies the saying, Rom. x. If?,)
weiii into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the
world." And then the end came, then an end was put. to the
Jewish polity in church and state. The government of the
tribe of Jutlah had subsisted in some form or other from the
deal li of Jacob to the last destruction of Jerusalem : but then
it was utterly broken and ruined ; then the sceptre departed,
and hath been departed ever since. And now even the distinc-
tion of tribes is in great measure lost among them; 1 hey are
all called Jews, but the tribe of Judah is so far from bearing
rule, that (hey know not for certain which is (he tribe of Judah ;
and all the world is witness, that they exercise dominion no
where, but every where live in subjection.
Before we conclude it may not be improper to add a just
observation of the learned prelate before cited. As the tribe
of Benjamin annexed itself to the tribe of Judah as its head,
so it ran the same fortune with it; they went together into
captivity, they returned home together, and were both in being
when Shiloh came. This also was foretold by Jacob, (ver. 27,)
"Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf ; in the morning he shall de-
vour ihe prey, and at night he shall divide (he spoil." The
monvng and nlgld here can be nothing else but (he 2 morning
and night of the Jewish state; for this state is the subject of
all Jacob's prophecy from one end to the other ; and conse-
quently it is here foretold of Benjamin, that he, should continue
to the very last times of the Jewish state. This interpretation
is confirmed by Moses's prophecy, for the prophecy of Moses
is in truth an exposition of Jacob's prophecy. "Benjamin
(sailh Moses, Dent, xxxiii. 12) shall dwell in safely; the Lord
shall cover him all the day long." What is this all the day
long? The same certainly as the morning and nigld. Does not
(his import a promise of a longer continuance to Benjamin, than
to the other tribes 1 And was it not most exactly fulfilled 1
To conclude. This prophecy and the completion of it will
furnish us with an invincible argument, not only that the Mes-
siah is come, but also that Jesus Christ is the person. For the
sceptre was not to depart from Judah, until the Messiah should
2 Thus some Jewish interpreters referred poribns — Sub vesperam, id est, post captivi-
o by Bochart unileistood the expression: lutis liabylonieai teuipura. 5 Hierczoic. para
' Mane, id est, primis Israelitici re»m leni- prior, 1. 3, c. 10, col. 828.
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ON TIIK PUOl'IIECiR.-l
5.9
conic: 1ml the sceptre liaili I< m y been departed, and c<»n~ - «-
(iilfiillv the Messiah hath hern long come. The sceptre tie-
part ci ! at the final dcsl ruction of Jerusalem, and halli been de-
parted seventeen ccHitnricrf ; and ronseipieui l\ I In' Messiah came
a lilllc Indole that period : and if the Messiah came ;i little he-
Jon; lhat period, prejudice itself cannot long make any doubt
concerning the person. All considerate na n must say as Simon
Pel or said to Jesus, (John vi. 68, til),) "Lord, to whom shall
we go! thou hast the words of eternal lite. And we believe
and are sure that thou art tiie Christ, the ton of the living God."
V. — Balaam's prophecies.
WONDERFUL as the gift of prophecy was, it was not
ehvays confined to the chosen seed, nor yet always im-
parled to (he best of men. God might sometimes, to convince
the world of his superintendence and government of the world,
disclose the purposes of his providence to heathen nations. lie
revealed himself to Ahimelech, (Gen. x\".) to Pharaoh, (Gen
xli.) and to Nebuchadnezzar, ( Dan. ii. :) and we have no reason
to deny all the marvellous stories which are related of divination
among the heathens; the possibility and credibility of which is
argued on both sides by Cicero in his two books of Divination,
his brother Quintus asserting it in the first book, and himself
labouring to disprove it in the second; but I think all unpreju-
diced leaders must agree, that the arguments for it are stronger
and better than those urged against it. Neither was there any
necessity that the prophels should always be good men. Unwor-
thy persons may sometimes be possessed of spiritual gifts as well
as of natural. Aaron and Miriam, who were inspired upon some
occasions, yet upon others mutinied against Moses, and rebelled
against God. Jonah for his disobedience to God was thrown
into the sea. In the 13th chapter of the first book of Kings we
read of two prophets, the one a liar and afterwards inspired, the
other inspired and afterwards disobedient to the word of the Lord.
Yea, our Saviour himself hath assured us, (Matt. vii. 22, 23,) that
in the last clay many will say unto him, " Lord, Lord, have we not
prophesied in thy name 1 and in thy name have cast out devils 1
ami in thy name done many wonderful works? and yet will he
profess unto them, I never knew you ; depart from me ye that
work iniquity."
Balaam was a remarkable instance of both kinds, bolh of a
prophet who was an heathen, and of a prophet who was an
immoral man. He came from "Aram," or "Mesopotamia, out
of the mountains of the east," (Numb, xxiii. 7; Deut. xxiii. 4 :)
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BISHOP NEWTON
and the oast was infamous for soothsayers and diviners, (Is.ii. 6.)
However, he was a worshipper of (lie true God, (as were also
Melchizedek, and Job, and others of the heathen nations,) and
this appeals by his applying to God, (Numb. xxii. 8,) "I will
Ur'ucj yun word again, as the Lord shall speak unto me ;" and
by his calling the Lord his God, (ver. IS,) "I cannot go beyond
the word of the Lord my God to do less or more." But his
worship was mixed and debased with superstition, as appears
by his building "seven altars," and sacrificing on each altar
(Numb, xxiii. 1,2,) and by his going "to seek for enchant-
ments," whatever they were, (Numb. xxiv. 1.) He appears too
to have had some pious thoughts and resolutions, by declaring
"I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God to do less
or more;" and by so earnestly wishing "Let me die the death
of the righteous, and let my last end be like his," (xxiii. 10.)
But his heart was unsound, was mercenary, was corrupt ; he
"loved the wages of unrighteousness," (2 Pet. ii. 15,) and "ran
greedily after rewards," (Jude 11.:) his inclinations were con-
trary to his duty ; he was ordered to stay, but yet he wished to
go ; he was commanded to bless, but yet. he longed to curse ;
and when he found that he was overruled, and could do the people
no hurt as a prophet, he still contrived, to do it as a politician,
and " taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the chil-
dren of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit
fornication," (Rev. ii. 14.) So that he was indeed a strange
mixture of a man ; but so is every man more or less. There
are inconsistencies and contradictions in every character,
though not so great perhaps and notorious as in Balaam. If
he is called a soothsayer in one part of Scripture, (Josh. xiii. 22,)
in another part he is called a, prophet, (2 Pet. ii. 16:) and his
name must have been in high credit and estimation, that the
king of Moab and the elders of Midian should think it worth
their while to send two honourable embassies to him at a con-
siderable distance, to engage him to come and curse the
people of Israel. It was a superstitious ceremony in use
among the heathens to devote their enemies to destruction at
the beginning of their wars, as if the gods would enter into
their passions, and were as unjust and partial as themselves.
The Romans had public officers to perform the ceremony, and
1 Macrobius hath preserved the form of these execrations. Now
Balaam being a prophet of great note and eminence, it was
believed that he was more intimate than others with the hea-
venly powers, and consecpiently that his imprecations would
oe more effectual ; for as Balak said unto him, (Numb. xxii. 6,)
" I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou
-ltrsest is cursed."
1 Sattimal. 1. 3. c. 9.
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OX THE PROPHECIES
CI
But, I lie. si ranges!, incident, of all is (lie part of Balaam's ass.
This usually is inadi! the grand <»i •)<•(•! ioi i to the lllitll of tin;
story. The speaking ass from that lime to ihis hath heeil the
(Sanding jest of every infidel hrolln:r. 1'hilo (lie Jew, seenielh
to have heen ashamed of this part, of die story : for in the fust
hook of his life of Moses, wherein lie liaih given an account, of
Balaam, he liatli purposely omitted this particular of the ass's
speaking, I suppose not to give offence to the Gentiles; hut
he needed not, to have heen so cautions of ollcnding them, for
similar stories were current among them. The learned 2 Bochart
lialli collected several instances, the ass of Bacchus, the nun
of Phrixus, the horse of Achilles, and the like, not only from
(he poets and my! hologists, hut, also from the gravest historians,
such as Livy and Plutarch, who frequently affirm that oxen have
spoken. The proper use of citing such authorities is not to
prove that those instances and this of Balaam are upon an
erpial footing, and equally true; but only to prove, that the
(Jennies believed such things to be true, and to lie within the
power of their gods, and consequently could not object to the
truth of scripture-history on (his account. Maimonides and
others have conceived, that (he matter was transacted in a
vision : and it must be confessed that many things in the writ-
ings of the prophets are spoken of as real transactions, which
were only visionary ; and these visions made as strong impres-
sions upon the minds of the prophets as realities. But it, ap-
pears rather more probable from the whole tenor of the narration,
that this was no visionary, but a real transaction. The words
of St. Peter show, that it is to be understood, as he himself
understood it, literally, (2 Pet. ii. 14, 15, 16:) "Cursed chil-
dren : which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray,
following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the
wages of unrighteousness; but was rebuked for his iniquity;
the dumb ass speaking with man's voice, forbade the madness
of the prophet." The ass was enabled to utter such and such
sounds, probably, as parrots do, without understanding them :
and say what you will of the construction of the ass's mouth,
of the formation of the tongue and jaws being unfit for speak-
ing, yet an adequate cause is assigned for this wonderful effect,
for it is said expressly, "that the Lord opened the mouth of
the ass ;" and no one who believes a God, can doubt of his hav-
ing power to do this, and much more. If the whole transaction
was visionary, no reason can be given why it was said particu-
larly that "the Lord opened the mouth of the ass." But it is
thought strange that Balaam should express no surprise upon
this extraordinary occasion : but perhaps he had been accus-
tomed to prodigies with his enchantments ; or perhaps believing
' Hierozoic. Pars prior. 1. 2, c. 14.
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BISHOP NEWTON
the eastern doctrine of the transmigration of human souls into
the bodies of bmtes, he might think such a humanized brute
not incapable of speaking: or perhaps he might not regard, or
attend to the wonder, through excess of rage and madness, as
the word is in St. Peter; or perhaps (which is the most, pro-
bable of all) be might be greatly disturbed and astonished, as
8 Joscphus affirms he was, and yet Moses in his short history
might omit this circumstance. The miracle was by no means
needless or superfluous ; it was very proper to convince Balaam,
that the mouth and tongue were under God's direction, and
that the same divine power which caused the dumb ass to speak
contrary to its nature, could make him in like manner utter
blessing's contrary to his inclination. And accordingly he was
overruled to bless the people, though he came prepared and
disposed to curse them, which according to 4 Bochart was the
greater miracle of the two, for ibe ass was merely passive, but
Balaam resisted the good motions of God. We may be the
more certain that he was influenced to speak contrary to his in-
clination, because after he had done prophesying, though he
had been ordered in anger to depart and "llee to his place,"
(Numb. xxiv. 10, 11,) yet he had the meanness to stay, and
gave that wicked counsel, whereby the people were enticed "to
commit, whoredom with the daughters of Moab," and "twenty
and four thousand died in the plague." (Numb. xxv. 1, 8.)
This miracle then was a proper sign to Balaam, and had a
proper eflect; and we may the more easily believe it, when we
find Balaam afterwards inspired with such knowledge of futu-
rity. It was not more above the natural capacity of the ass to
speak, than it was above the natural capacity of Balaam to
foretel so many distant events. The prophecies render the mi-
racle more credible ; and wc shall have less reason to doubt of
the one, when we see the accomplishment of the others. His
predictions are indeed wonderful, whether we consider the
matter or the style; as if the same divine Spirit that inspired
his thoughts, had also raised his language. They are called
parables in the sacred text : "he took up his parable and said."
The same word is used after the same manner in the book of
Job, (xxvii. 1 ; xxix. 1 :) "Moreover Job continued his parable and
said." It is commonly translated parable or proverb. Le Clerc
translates it 'figuratam orationem :' and thereby is meant a
3 Antiij. Jud. 1. 4, c. 6, 5 % raatiTTo^ihov
tV aiiToH Ita Ti]V Tris (il'ov tpwvi)v dfOowTTtV?;!'
oZffav ; (C. r. X. Ditm vert) Ule voce huiitana
tifino'. atlnnilus iiirhtttitHque, Q'C
4 ' Rabba in Ntimeros, § 20. Dciim as-
sent os asin;G ideo aperuisse, " ut Balaa-
milm doceret, os, ct lin^uam penes Ft* esse,
xdeuqiie os ipsius Baiaami, si qua*rerei Is-
raeli maledicere." Et vero id dopttit even-
tus, cum Balaam iis ipsis invitus benedixit,
quibus maiedicturus tanto apparatu vene-
rat, non miuore oracnlo, ant etiam majore,
qnam cum asina locula est. Asina enim erat
mer6 patiens, sed Balaam moventi Deo
pro vii-ili obsistebat, ut Saul, cum proplie-
tam egit.' Ilierozoic. Pars prior. 1. 2, c. 14
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ON TOE PROPHECIES. 63
weighty and solemn speech delivered in figurative and majestic
language. Such, remarkably such, 5 an; the prophecies or para-
bles of Balaam. You cannot, pernio them without being struck
with the beauty of them. You will perceive uncommon force
and energy, if you read them only in our English translation.
We shall select only such parts as are more immediately relative
to the design of these discourses.
After he had offered his first sacrifice, (Numb, xxiii.) he
wont to seek the Lord, and at his return he declared among
other things, "Lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not
be reckoned among the nations," (ver. 9.) And how could Ba-
laam upon a distant view only of a people, whom he had never
seen or known before, have discovered the genius and manners
not only of the people then living, but of their posterity to the
latest generations? What renders it more extraordinary is the
singularity of the character, that they should differ from all the
people in the world, and should dwell by themselves among the
nations, without mixing and incorporating with any. The time
too when this was affirmed increases the wonder, it being be-
fore the people were well known in the world, before their re-
ligion and government were established, and even before they
had obtained a settlement any where. But yet that the cha-
racter was fully verified in the event, not only all history testi-
fies, but we have even ocular demonstration at this day. The
Jews, in their religion and laws, their rites and ceremonies, their
manners and customs, were so totally different from all other
nations, that they had little intercourse or communion with
them. An 6 eminent author hath shown, that there was a ge-
neral intercommunity amongst the gods of Paganism ; but no
such thing was allowed between the God of Israel and the
gods of the nations. There was to be no fellowship between
God and Belial, though there might be between Belial and
Dagon. And hence the Jews were branded for (heir inhu-
manity and unsociableness ; and they as generally hated, as
they were hated by the rest of mankind. Other nations,
s See to this purpose Mr. Lowth's poetical Preelections, particularly Pr.-cl. 4, p. 41,
Prsel. 18, p. 173, and his ingenious version of part of Balaam's prophecies'into Latin verse,
Prael. 20, p. 206. The learned reader will not be displeased to see it here.
' Tuis, Jacobe, quantus est castris decor !
Tuisque signis, Israel!
TJt rijrua vallis fertilem pandens sinum ;
Horti ut scatentes rivulis :
Sacris Edeiije costi ut in syivis virent,
Cedrique propter flumina.
Illi uda muUo rore stillant germina,
F;rtusque alunt juges aqua?.
Sancti usque fines promovebit imperi
Rex usque victor hostium.
Ilium subacto dnxit abNilo Deus,
Novis superbum virihus,
Qualis remotis liber injitgis oryx
Fert celsa coslo cornua.
Vorabit hostcs ; ossa franget J irritas
Lacerabit hast as dentibus.
Ut Leo, recumbit; ut leavna, decubat;
Quis audeat lacessere ?
Qua? quisque tibi precabihlr, firat bona!
Mala qua? precabitur, luat!'
See the Divine Legation of Moses, b. 2, § 6, and b. 5, § 2.
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BISHOP NEWTON
(lie conqueror.* ami tlx; conquered, have often associated and
united as one body under ihe same laws; but the Jews in
their captivities have commonly been more bigoted to their own
religion, and more tenacious of their own riles and customs,
than at other times. And even now, while they are dispersed
among all nations, they yet live distinct, and separate from all,
trading only with others, but eating, marrying, and convers-
ing chicllv among themselves. We sec therefore how exactly
and wonderfully Balaam characterised the whole race from the
first to the last, when he said, "Lo, the people shall dwell
alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations." In the
conclusion too when he poured forth that passionate wish, "Let
me die the death of f lie righteous, and let my last end be like
his," (vcr. 10,) he had in all probability sonic forebodings of
his own coming to an untimely end, as he really did afterwards,
being slain with the live kings of Midian by the sword of Israel,
(Numb. xxxi. 8.)
After the second sacrifice he said, among other things,
(Numb. xxii. 2k) "Behold the people shall rise up as a great
lion, and lift up himself as a young lion : he shall not lie down
until he eat of the prey, and drink of the blood of the slain:"
and again to the same purpose after the third sacrifice, (xxiv.
S, 9,) " lie shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break
their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows: He
couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion : who shall
stir him up 1 Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he
that curse; h thee." Which passages are a, manifest prophecy
of the victories which the Israelites should gain over their ene-
mies, and particularly the Canaanites, and of their secure pos-
session and quiet enjoyment of the land afterwards, and par-
ticularly in the reigns of David and Solomon. It is remarkable,
too, that God hath here put into the mouth of Balaam much
the same things which Jacob had before predicted of Judah,
(Gen. xlix. 9,) "Judah is a lion's whelp; from the prey, my
son, thou art gone up: he stooped clown, he couched as a lion,
and as an old lion; who shall rouse him upl" and Isaac had
predicted of Jacob, (Gen. xxvii. 29,) " Cursed be every one
I hut curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee:"
there is such analogy and harmony between the prophecies
of Scripture.
At the same time Balaam declared, (ver. 7,) " His king shall
be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted." Some
eopies have Gog instead of «%ag, which reading is embraced
by the 7 authors of the Universal History, who say that 'as the
Samaritan, Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic read Gog instead of
Agag, and Gog doth generally signify the Scythians and nor-
Soe Univers. Hist. b. 1, c. 7, § 2, vol. i. p. 534. Fol. Edit, note Y.
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
them nation:- - , several interpreters have preferred this latter read-
ing to the first, and not without good grounds.' But it is a mis.
lake to say, that the Syriac and Arabic, lead Gog: It is ('omul
only in the "Samaritan and the Seplnaginl, and in Syiumacluis
according to Grot ins : the 9 Syriac and Arabic have Agag as well
as the Tnnruin of Onkelos and the Vulgate, thnu/:h this latter
with a different sense and construction of the word.*. Neither
have we any account that Gog was a famous king - at. that time,
and much less that the king of Israel was ever exalted above
him ; and indeed the Scythians and northern nations lay too
remote to be the proper subject of a comparison. The reading
of the Hebrew copies, his king shall be higher than Agag, is
without doubt the true reading: and \vc must cither suppose
that Agag was prophesied of by name particularly, as Cyrus
and Josiah were several years before they were born : or we
must say with 1 Moses Gerundensis, a learned Rabbi quoted by
Minister, that Agag was the general name of the Icings of Ama-
lek, which appears very probable, it being the custom of those
times and of those countries to give one certain name to all
their kings, as Pharaoh was the general name far the kings of
Egypt, and Ahimrfeeh for the kings of the Philistines. Anialek
too was a neighbouring country, and therefore is fitly intro-
duced upon the present occasion : and it was likewise at that
time a great and flourishing kingdom, for (in ver. 20) it is
styled " the first of the nations ;" and therefore for the king of
Israel to be exalted above the king of Amalek was really a
wonderful exaltation. But wonderful as it was, it was accom-
plished by Saul, who " smote the Amalekites from Havilah
until thou comest to Sliur, that is over against Egypt : and
he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly
destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword," (1 Sam.
xv. 7, 8.) The first king of Israel subdued Agag the king of
the Amalekites, so that it might truly and properly be said,
" his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall
be exalted," as it was afterwards greatly by David and So-
lomon.
His latter prophecies Balaam ushers in with a remarkable
preface, " Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man
whose eyes are open, hath said: He hath said, which heard
the words of God^which saw the vision of the Almighty, fall-
* " Extolleturque pre Go» rex ejus."
Samar. Kai tyuBi'ivzTai ft Tuy (iaoiXda.
Sept. h^.tcdijcrETai iiztp rdiy paai\cvs avrov.
Symm. apud Grot.
9 "E.vlolleuir pre Agag rege, et exal-
tabitur re«nuni." Syr. "Exaltabitur plus
quam Agag rex ejus, et extolletur reg-
num ejus." Arab. " Roborabitur magis
quam Agag rex ejus, et elevabttur reg-
6*
num illius." Onk. " Tolletur propter
Agag rex ejus, et auferetur regiium illius."
' l Et secundum Mosen Gerundensem,
quihbet rex Ama'ekilarum fuit vocatus
jA.gag 7 transitque primi regis nomen in
oirnes posleros solium regni occupanles ;
sicut a Cipsare primo omnes Rnmanorum
regis C<Bsares appellantur.' Munsterus.
i
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BISHOP NEWTON
ina into a trance, but having- bis eyes open," (Numb. xxiv. 3, 4,
ami 15, 1C.) Which bath occasioned much perplexity and con-
fusion, 'but Ihe words rightly rendered will admit of an easy
interpretation. Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man
whose eyes arc open hath said : It should be the man whose eye
was shut: for the word cr» shatam is used only here and in
Lamentations, (iii. 8,) and tlicrc it signifies to shut; and the
word cna satam, which is very near of kin to it, I think,
hath always that signification. St.. Jerome translates it 'cujus
obturatus est oculus :' and in the margin of our Bibles it is
rendered who had his eyes shut, but with this addition but now
open. It plainly alludes to Balaam's not seeing- the angel of
the Lord, at the same time that the ass saw him. "He bath
said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of
the Almighty ;" for in this story we read several times, that
" God came unto Balaam and said unto him ;" and possibly he
might allude to former revelations. "Falling into a trance,
but having his eyes open;" in the original there is no mention
of a trance; the passage should be rendered, falling and his eyes
were opened, alluding to what happened in the way, to Balaam's
falling with his falling ass, and then having his eyes opened :
" And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she fell down
under Balaam — Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and
he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword
drawn in his hand ; and he bowed down his head, and fell flat
on his face," (xxii. 27, &c.) A contrast is intended between
having his eyes shut and having his eyes opened; the one an-
swers to the other. The design of this preface was to excite
attention; and so Balaam proceeds to "advertise Balak what
this people should do to his people in the latter days," by which
phrase is meant the time to come, be it more or less remote.
He begins with what more immediately concerns the Moab-
ites, the people to whom he is speaking, (ver. 17:) "I shall
see him, but not now, I shall behold him, but not nigh ;" or ra-
ti ler, I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not nigh; the fu-
ture tense in Hebrew being often used for the present. He
saw with the eyes of prophecy, and prophets are emphatically
styled seers. "There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a
sceptre shall rise out of Israel." The star and the sceptre are
probably metaphors borrowed from the ancient hieroglyphics,
which much influenced the language of the East : and they evi-
dently denote some eminent and illustrious king or ruler, whom
lie particularises in the following words. "And shall smite
the corners of Moab," or the princes of JWoab, according to other
versions. This was executed by David, for "he smote Moab,
and measured them with a line, casting them down to the
ground : even with two lines measured he, to put to death ;
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67
and with one full line to keen alive :" that is, lie destroyed two-
thirds, and saved one-third alive,: "And so the Moahitcs be-
came David's servants, and brought .gift- 1 ," ( ' Sam. viii. 2.)
"And destroy all the children of Sheth," (ver. 17.) If by
Shell), was meant the son of Adam, then all the children of Sheth
are all mankind, the posterity of Cain and Adam's other sons
having 1 all perished in the deluge, and the line only of Sheth
having 1 been preserved in Noah and his family: hut it is very
harsh to say that any king of Israel would destroy all mankind,
and therefore the 2 Syriac and Chaldee soften it, that he shall
subdue all the sons of Sheth, and rule over all the sons of men.
The word occurs only in this place, and in Isaiah, (xxii. 5,)
where it is used in the sense of breaking down or destroying;
nnd as particular places, Moab and Edom, arc mentioned both
before and after; so it is reasonable to conclude that not all
mankind in general, but some particular persons were intended
by the expression of the sons of Sheth. The 3 Jerusalem Targum
translates it the sons of the east, the Moabitcs lying east of Judea.
Rabbi Nathan 4 says that Sheth is the name of a city in the bor-
der of Moab. Grotins 5 imagines Sheth to he the name of some
famous king among the Moahitcs. Our Poole, who is a ju-
dicious and useful commentator, says that Sheth 'seems to be
the name of some then eminent, though now unknown, place
or prince in Moab, where there were many princes, as appears
from Numb, xxiii. 6 ; Amos ii. 3 : there being innumerable in-
stances of such places or persons sometimes famous, but now
utterly lost as to all monuments and remembrances of them.'
Vitringa in his commentary upon Isaiah, 6 conceives that the
Idumeans were intended, the word Sheth signifying a foun-
dation, or fortified place, because they trusted greatly in their
castles and fortifications. But the Idumeans are mentioned
afterwards ; and it is probable that as two hemistichs relate to
them, two also relate to the Moabites ; and the reason of the
appellation assigned by Vitringa is as proper to the Moabites
as to the Idumeans. It is common in the style of the Hebrews,
and especially in the poetic parts of Scripture, and we may
observe it particularly in these prophecies of Balaam, that the
same thing in effect is repeated in other words, and the latter
5 "Et subjugavit omncs filios Seth."
Syr. '■ Et dominabitur omnium filiorum
hominum." Cliald.
3 'Hinc Jerosolim. Paraphrastcs filios
orientin vprtit. Moabitce enim erant ad
ortum Judea!. 1 Le Clerc.
* 'R. Nathan dicit Seth nomcn urbis
esse in tcrmino Moab. Vide Liram.'
Drusius.
' 'Nihil vero propius quam Seth nomi-
natum fuisse regem aliquem eximium in-
ter Moabitas.' Grot.
6 'Non desislo ab hac sententia, vocem
"ipip karkar in verbis Bileami certo sitrni-
ficare destruclionem, eversionem, vastntio*
nem ; etsi hrcream in phrasi nty *:3 filie-
rum Seth, per quos secundum circumstan-
tias loci intelligi puto Idumreos, voce
appellative sumpta pro fundamento, sive
loco munito, quod illi maxime arcibus ac
munimentis suia fiderenU' Vitring. in
Jesaim, c. 23, ver. 5, p. 641, vol. i.
S:d:A. THEOLOGICAL <:.iM\*,.A
68
BISHOP NEWTON
member of each period is cxcgelical of the former, as in the pas-
sage before us; I nee him, but not now; I behold him, but nol
ni'xh : aiul Mien again, "There shall come a star out of Jacob,
ami a .-.vpiro shall rise out of Israel :" and again afterwards,
Ami Edom shall be a possession, fceir also shall be a possession
f. iv liis enemies." There is great reason therefore to think, that
the .-Mine manner of speaking was continued here, and conse-
quently that Shcth must be the name of some eminent place
or person among the Moabit.es; "and shall smite the princes
of Moab, and destroy all the sons of Slieth."
" And Edom shall be a possession," (vcr. IS.) This was also
fulfilled by David; for "he put. garrisons in Edom; through-
out all Edom put he garrisons, and all they of Edom became
David's servants," (2 fcsam. viii. 14.) David himself in two of
his psalms hath mentioned together his conquest of Moab and
Edom, as they are also joined together in this prophecy;
" Moab is my wash-pot, over Edom will 1 cast out my shoe,"
(Psal. lx. S; cviii. 9.) "Seir also shall be a possession for his
enemies," that is, for the Israelites. Seir is the name of the
mountains of Edom, so that even their mountains and fast-
nesses could not defend the Idumeans from David and his cap-
tains. " And Israel shall do valiantly," as they did particu-
larly under the command of David, several of whose victories
are recorded in this same Sth chapter of the 2d book of Samuel,
together with his conquest of Moab and of Edom, (ver. 19.)
" Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion, and
shall destroy him that remaineth of the city;" not only defeat
them in tire field, but destroy them even in their strongest cities,
or perhaps some particular city was intended, as we may infer
from Psal. lx. 9 ; cviii. 10 : "Who will bring me into the strong
city 1 who will lead me into Edom V And we read particularly
that Jcab, David's general, " smote every male in Edom : for
six months did Joab remain there with all Israel, until he had
cut off every male in Edom," (1 Kings xi. 15, 16.)
We see how exactly this prophecy hath been fulfilled in the
person and actions of David : but most Jewish as well as
Christian writers apply it, primarily perhaps to David, but ulti-
mately to the Messiah, as the person chiefly intended, in whom
it, was to receive its full and entire completion. Onkelos, who
is the most ancient and valuable of the Chaldee paraphrasts,
interprets it of the Messiah. 'When a prince,' 7 says he, 'shall
arise of the house of Jacob, and Christ shall be anointed of the
house of Israel, he shall both slay the princes of Moab, and
rule over all the sons of men :' and with him agree the other
Targums or paraphrases. Maimonides, who is one of the most
_ T 'Cum consurget rex de domo Jacob, et uncetur Christus de domo Israel ; et occidet
principes Moab, et dominabitur omnium filiorum nominum.' Onk.
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69
learned and famous of the Jo wish doctor-, understands it partly
of David, and partly of the Messiah : ;nnl with liim agree oilier
rabbies, whom von may find oiled by tlx- critics and commen-
tators to this purpose. It. appears to lia\e been generally 1111-
derslood 1)V the Jews, as a prophecy of the Messiah, because
lb" false. Christ, who appeared in tin; reiirn of ilie Roman em-
peror Adrian, "assumed the tille of Jinn fan In has, or the son of
the star, in allusion to this prophecy, and in order to have it
believed that, he was the star whom Balaam bad seen afar off.
The Christian fathers, I think, are unanimous in applying this
prophecy to our Saviour, and to the star which appeared at
his nativity. Origen in particular saith, that 9 in the law there
art: many typical and enigmatical references to (be Messiah:
but he produeeth this as one of the plainest, and clearest of pro-
phecies : and both 1 Origcn and Eusebius affirm, that it was in
consequence of Balaam's prophecies, which were known and
believed in the cast, that the Magi, upon the appearance of a
new star, came to Jerusalem to worship him who was born king
of the Jews. The stream of modern divines and commentators
runneth the same way, that is, they apply the prophecy prin-
cipally to our Saviour, and by .Ifoab and Edam understand the
enemies and persecutors of the church. And it must he ac-
knowledged in favour of this opinion, that many prophecies of
Scripture have a double meaning, literal and mystical, respect
two events, and receive a twofold completion. David too was
in several things a type and figure of the Messiah. If by de-
stroying all the children of Sheth be meant ruling over all mankind,
this was never fulfilled in David. A star did really appear at
our Saviour's nativity, and in Scripture he is stvled the "day-
star," (2 Pet. i. 19,)" "the morning-star," (Rev. ii. 28,) "the
bright and morning star," (xxii. 16,) perhaps in allusion to this
very prophecy. Dr. Warbnrton, who improves every subject
that he handles, assigns a farther reason. Speaking of the two
sorts of metaphor in the ancient use of it, the popular And com-
mon, and the hidden and mysterious; he 2 says that ' the pro-
phetic writings are full of this kind of metaphor. To instance
only in the famous prediction of Balaam — " there shall come
a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel." This
prophecy may possibly in some sense relate to David, but with-
out doubt it belongs principally to Christ. Here the metaphor
■ See Basnage's Hist, of the Jews, b. 6,
c. 9, 5 13.
9 Tl'WU'w? ftev tvv Kal alviyiiarweiis ava-
(Jfft^iri .i cli rev Xpitrrbv rwv ivayrypafipiviitv
iv r,3 v6fita -Xri'crifi {lea Itrri zl/pctv. TvjxviTtqa
hi Kn\ o i<f*icTtoci iyd ov% 6p« firi row irapdvroc
XWti Tira Ttioa Taiira. Quamobrem quam
flurima buenire licet acripta in lege turn
(ypice, turn obsevre, quaz rtferantur ad CV»rjV
turn. Apertiora vtro alia, el manijisliora pra>
ler hose, ego in preesentia nan vi'leo.
• Oris, contr. Cels. 1. 1, J 60. In Nu-
meros Horn. 13, § 7. Eusebii Demonstral
Evangel. 1. 9, $ 1.
2 See the Divine Legation. &c. book 4,
sect. 4.
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BISHOP NEWTON
of a sceptre was common and popular to denote a ruler, like
David; lull (lie star, though, like (he oilier, it signified in the
prophetic writing a temporal prince or ruler, yet had a secret
and hidden moaning likewise. A star in the Egyptian hiero-
M-lcpliics denoted 3 God: (and how much hieroglyphic writing
iiiiliieneed I lie eastern languages we shall see presently.) Thus
God. in the prophet Amos, reproving (he Israeli I us for their
idolairy on their first coming out of Egypt, says, "Have ye
olli'ivd unto me sacrifices and oH'crings in the wilderness forty
\ e ns, 0 house of Israel? But. ye have borne 1 lie tabernacle of
your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your God
which ye made to yourselves," (Amos v. 25, 2G.) The star of
your God is here a noble figurative expression to signify lite
image of your God ; for a star being employed in the hierogly-
phics to signify God, it is used here with great elegance to sig-
nify the material image of a God; the words the star of your
God being only a repetition (so usual in the Hebrew tongue)
of the preceding — Claim, your images; and not (as some critics
suppose) the same with your God slur, ' sidus Denm vestrum.'
Hence we conclude that the metaphor here used by Balaam of
a star was of that abstruse mysterious kind, and so to be un-
derstood; and consequently that it related only to Christ, the
eternal son of God.' Thus far this excellent writer. But t hough
for these reasons the Messiah might be remotely intended, yet
we cannot allow that he was intended solely, because David
might be called a star by Balaam, as well as other rulers or
governors are by Daniel, (viii. 10,) and by St. John, (Rev. i. 20 :)
and we must insist upon it, that the primary intention, the
literal meaning of the prophecy respects the person and actions
of David; and for this reason particularly, because Balaam is
here advertising Balak, "What this people should do to his
people in the latter days," that is, what the Israelites should do
to the Moabites hereafter.
From the Moabites he turned his eyes more to the south and
west, and "looked" on their neighbours, the Amalekitcs; and
"took up his parable, and said, (ver. 20,) Amalek was the first
of the nations, but his latter end shall be that he perish for
ever." "Ainalek was the first of the nations," the first and
most powerful of the neighbouring nations, or the first that
warred against Israel, as it is in the margin of our Bibles. The
latter interpretation is proposed by 4 Onkelos and other Jews,
I suppose because they would not allow the Amalekites to be
a more ancient nation than themselves : but most good critics
prefer the former interpretation as more easy and natural, and
for a very good reason, because the Amalekites appear to have
A<rn)p Tap' Alyiwr/oif ypa<p6ittvos Scin 4 ' Principium bellorura Israel fuit Ama«
ttyiabcu Hurapol. Hierog. lib. 2, cap. 1. lech.' Onk,
ON' TUP PROPHECIES.
71
been a very ancient nation. They art) reckoned luimii^ (lie most
ancient, nations thereabouts, (I Sain, xwii.8:) "the Geshu-
rites, and I lie Gezrites, ui id (lie Aina'ekiies ; for these nations
were (if old the inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Hhnr,
even unto tin; land of Egypt." They are mentioned as early
as in the wars of Chedorlaoiner, (Gen. xiv. 7;) so that, (hey
lnnsl, have been a nation before the times of Abraham and Lot,
and consequently much older than the Moabilcs, or Edomile.s,
or any of the nations descended from those patriarchs. And
this is a demonstrative argument, (bat the Amalekites did not,
descend from Amalek, the son of Eliphaz and grandson of Esau,
as many have supposed only for the similitude of names, (Gen.
xxxvi. 12 ;) but, sprung from some other slock, and probably,
as the Arabian writers affirm, from Amalek or Amlek, the son
of Ham and grandson of Noah. Anilak et Jlmlik, ills tie Cham,
fils de No - — C'esl celuy que les Ilebreux appellcnt Amalec pere
des Amalecilcs: so saith Ilerbelot : but it is to be wished that
this valuable and useful author had cited his authorities. Ac-
cording to the 'Arabian historians too, they were a great and
powerful nation, subdued Egypt, and held it in subjection
several years. The)' must certainly have been more powerful,
or at least more courageous, than the neighbouring nations,
because they ventured to attack the Israelites, of whom the
other nations were afraid. But though they were the first, the
most ancient and powerful of the neighbouring nations, yet
" their latter end shall be that they perish for ever. " Here
Balaam unwittingly confirms what God had before denounced
by Moses, (Exod. xvii. 14:) "And the Lord said unto Moses,
Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears
of Joshua, for I will (or rather, that I will) utterly put out the
remembrance of Amalek from under heaven." Balaam had
before declared, that the king of Israel should prevail over the
king of Amalek ; but here the menace is carried farther, and
Amalek is consigned to utter destruction. This sentence was
in great measure executed by Saul, who "smote the Amalekites,
and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword,"
(1 Sam. xv. 7, 8.) When they had recovered a little, " David
and his men went up and invaded them ; and David smote the
land, and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the
sheep and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and the
apparel," (1 Sam. xxvii. 8, 9.) David made a farther slaughter
and conquest of them at Ziglag, (1 Sam. xxx.) and at last
" the sons of Simeon, in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah,
smote the rest of the Amalekites that were escaped, and dwelt
in their habitations," (1 Chron iv. 41, 42, 43.) And where is
the name or the nation of Amalek subsisting at this day? What
' See Umvers. Hist. b. 1, c. 3, p. 281 Folio Edit. vol. l.
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BISHOP NEWTON
history, u hut. tradition concerning them is remaining any vvliere 1
They (ut: but. just, enough known and rfMiicmlji-ii-d to show, that
what Odd had I hrealened ho hath punctually fulfilled ; " 1 will
ullcrlv put out. the remembrance of Amalek Cioin under heaven,"
iiml "his latter end shall bo that lir; perish for ever. 1 '
Then '-he looked on the Keniles : and look' up his parnhle,
and said, ( ver. 21, 22,) Strong is thy dwelling plaee, find ihou
pnlli'-;| thy nest, in a rock. Nevertheless the Keniie shall he
wrs-teil, until Asshur shall carry llieo away captive." Com-
mentators an; perplexed, and much at a loss to say with any
certainty who these Kenites were There uru.Kenil.es men-
tioned ((Jen. xv. 10) among the Canaanitish nations, whose
land was promised unto Abraham ; and he. Clorc* imagines that
tho-e Keniles were the people here intended: hut (he Ganaan-
itish nations are not. the subject of Balaam's prophecies ; and
the' Canaanitish nations were to he rooted out, hut these Kenites
were to continue as long as the Israelites themselves, and to
he carried captive with them by (he Assyrians; and in the
opinion of Boehart, 7 those Kenites as well as I he Keniz/.ites
became extinct in the interval of time which passed between
Abraham and Moses, being not mentioned by Joshua in the
division of the land, nor reckoned among flats nations conquered
by him. The most probable account of these Kenites I con-
ceive to he this. Jethro, tie; father-in-law of Moses, is called
in one place " the priest of Midian," (Exod. iii. ],) and in an-
other " the Keniles," (Judg. i. 16.) We may infer therefore that
the Midianites and the Kenites were the same, or at least that
the Keniles were some of the tribes of Midian. The Midianites
an; said lo he confederates with the Moa biles in the beginning
of the story, and the elders of Midian as well as the elders of
Moah invited Balaam to come and curse Israel ; and one would
naturally expect some notice to he taken of them or their tribes
in the course of these prophecies. Now of the Keniles, it ap-
pears that part followed Israel, (Judg. i. 10 ;) but the greater
part, we may presume, remained among the Midianites and
Amalekil.es. We read in 1 Stun. (xv. 6,) that there w ere Kenites
dwelling among the Amalckilcs, and so the Kenites are fitly
mentioned here next, niter the Anialekit.es. Their situation is
said to he strong and secure among the mountains, "Strong
is thy dwelling place, and thou puttest thy nest, in a, rock ;"
wherein is an allusion to the name, the same word in Hebrew
signifying a tied and a Kentle. " Nevertheless the Keuilesha.il
8 c Ilif; Arili'[iiior*'s illi Kena:i intelli*
K> nili.' Li: Cluro in locnrn.
7 ' Hiirum e^o norricn deletum fuissft
nutnvcrim in eo ternporis intervalln, quod
inter Abrutiami el Musis iuvum iiiturcxs-
sit. M ecrtc nvrrx«: rut, in oliscuro la-
tuis.se tempore Jusiur, ( f ui nee in divisione
terra:, nee in eensu f»i-nliiim a sc devicta-
mm illorum rnrn.init uspiam.' Phaleg.
1. 4, c. 36, col. 3!>7.
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73
be wasted, until Asslmr carry thee away captive." The Ama-
lekiles were to be utterly destroyed, but tins Kenitcs were to be
carried captive. And accordingly when Saul was sent by divine
commission to destroy the Atnalckitcs, he ordered the Kcnites
to depart from among them, (1 Sam. xv. C :) "And Saul said
unto the Kenitcs, Go, depart, get you down from iiiuoug the
Amalokites, lest I destroy you with (hem : for ye showed kind-
ness to all the children of Israel when they came up out of
Egypt >" ft' 1 " ,nc Ivincli loss whicli some of them showed to Israel,
their posterity was .saved. "So the Kenitcs departed from
among the Amalekites." This showelh that they were, wasted,
mill reduced to a low and weak condition ; and as the kings of
Assyria carried captive not only the Jews, but also (he Syrians,
(2 Kings xvi. 9,) and several other nations, (2 Kings xix. 12, 13,)
it is most highly probable that the Kenitcs shared the same file
wit h t heir neighbours, and were carried away by the same torrent ;
and especially as we find some Kenitcs mentioned among the
Jews after their return from captivity, (1 Chron. ii. 5.3.)
The next verse, (ver. 23,) "And he took up his parable, and
said, Alas, who shall live w'nen God doeth this !" is by several
commentators referred to what, precedes; but it relates rather to
what follows. "And he took up his parable, and said:" this
preface is used, when lie enters opon some new subject. "Alas,
who shall live when God doeth this!" this exclamation implies,
that he is now prophesying of very distant and very calamitous
times. " And ships, (or rather For ships, as the particle •> often
signifies, and this instance among others is cited by Noldius, 8 )
shall come from the coast of Chittim, and shall afflict Asslmr, and
shall afflict Eber, and he also shall perish for ever," (vei. 24.)
Chittim was one of the sons of Javan, who was one of the sons
of Japhelh, by whose posterity "the isles of the Gentiles, (Gen.
x. 5,) were divided" and peopled, that is Europe, and the coun-
tries to which the Asiatics passed by sea, for such the Hebrews
called islands. Chittim is used for the descendants of Chittim,
as Jisskur is put for the descendants of Asslmr, that is the Assy-
rians : but what people were the descendants of Chilthn, or
what country was meant by the coasts of Chittim, it is not so easy
to determine. The critics and commentators are generally di-
vided into two opinions, the one asserting that Macedonia, and
the other that Italy was the country here intended: and each
opinion is recommended and authorised by some of the first and
greatest names in learning ; as, not to mention any others,
Grotius and Le Clerc' contend for the former, Bochart and
Vitmigu 1 are strenuous for the latter. But there is no reason
■ 3f»Mii Part > 37.
- 1 Ci 'i:i!i> m luriim ef Clerinis in locum, el in Genes, x. 4.
1 B;>(:!icLrfi Plmleg. 1. 3j c. 5, et Viirinya in Iesaiam. xxiii. 1,
7 K
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BISHOP NEWTON
why wr may m. I. adopt, liolh opinions ; and especially as it is
verv w i ll Known and agreed on all hands-', that, colonics came
i'nii',1 Greece to Italy; and an Josephus 8 saith, that, all islands
and nicKl maritime places arc called Cliclliim by the Hebrews;
and manifest traces of the name arc to he found in both couii-
liir-, i!u< ancient name of Macedonia ha\ ing heen JiIautliu J and
l!ie i. alius having Indole been calli'd Celii. What appeals most
]),••..! i:iidu is, that the sons of Chillini settled first in Asia Minor,
where were a people called Cclu, and a river called Crfivm,
according to Homer and Slrabo. 4 From Asia they might pass
over into the island Cyprus, which Jose pin is 5 gnith was possessed
by Chdhhn, and cahed Chcthvua ; and where was also the city
CHliiim, famous for being the birthplace of Zeno, the founder of
the sect of Stoics, who was therefore called the CM lean. And
from thence they might send forth colonies into Greece and
Italy. This plainly appears, that wherever the land of Cltit-
tim or the ides of Chillim are mentioned in Scripture, there are
evidently meant some countries or islands in the Mediterranean.
Isaiah, prophesying of the destruction of Tyre by Nebuchad-
nezzar, saith, (xxiii. 1,) " Howl, ye ships of Taishish," that is,
the ships trading from Tyre to Tarscssus in Spain ; "for Tyre
is laid waste : from the land of Chillim it is revealed to them ;"
the news is brought first to the countries and islands in the
Mediterranean, and from thence it is conveyed to Spain ; and
afterwards, (ver. 12,) "Arise, pass over to Chittiin, there also
shall thou have no rest;" the inhabitants might liy from Tyre,
and pass over to the countries and islands in the Mediterranean,
but even there they should find no secure place of refuge ; Cod's
judgments should still pursue them. Jeremiah expostulating
with the Jews concerning their causeless revolt, saith, (ii. 10,)
" Pass over to the isles of Chit.tim, and sec," that is the isles in
the Mediterranean which lay westward of Judea ; " and send
unto Kedar," which was in Arabia and lay eastward of Judea ;
"and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing;"' go
search east and west, and sec if you can find any such instance
of apostac.y as this of the Jews. Ezekiel describing the luxury
of the Tyrians even in their shipping, saith, (xxvii. G,) accord-
ing to the c (rue reading and interpretation of the words,
" they made their benches of ivory inlaid on box, brought out
of the i.-!es of Chittim," that is out of the isles of the Mcdi-
2 Kai (it 1 titirtjs vtjfftil rc iritaat 7 Ka} rd
tXciuj rCir -< 'xi (J<t^'itjc<tv, Xtl)tp v~o K ( jVjmi'-
rt-v ivoptt^ir'u. I'll ah en [Cluriliini.'i J iuKvlte
owmt.s, it /i/trii'/ue Inca mafllima, ah llt.hritxs
Chetliiw fliriinlirr. Afili'j. 1. i. c. G.
3 Vide Bof'lir.rtiini iljid.
* Homer. O'tyss. xi. 5-0, ct Scholiast.
ilml. Strat.n Cwiarnph. 1. 13, p. 915, 916.
- X*Wt/"iJ ft XiQijin Tiiv v'riauv cn^iv:
K6irfl'M miTT] vT'V KaXurai. Clatliimu.i autem
V/a.thi/timii illttulUHt arrirj/ai it: ipsa vera nunc
t'jW»r»» i nruliir. Josiih. Anliq. 1. 1, ('. 6.
*• lioHiart. ibid, et Hicroz'iic pars prior.
1. 2, <:. 2-1.
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ON TIIK PROPHECIES.
75
ici ranoan, and must probably from Corsica, which was famous
above all places for box, as Bnchnrl halh proved h\' I lie leslimo-
nies of Plinv, Thenpl irast us, and Diodorus. I )aniel, forelelling
tin 1 exploits nf Anliochus Kpiphanes, sailh, 2'.), 30,) thai ho
should "come Inwards (he, south," thai i-, invade Hgvpl, "hut
the ships nf Chillim shall conic against him, therefore he sha.ll
he m'ieved and return:'" (lie skips of Chillim can he mine oilier
than lilt! ships nf the, Unmans, whose 7 ambassadors mining
from Italy to Greece, and from thence to Alexandria, obliged
Anliochus, to his great grief anil disappointment, to depart,
from Egypt wilhoul accomplishing his designs. Tlie iiulhor of
the first, hook of Maccahees, speaking of Alexander, son of
Philip the Macedonian, sail li, (i. 1,) that hi: "canieoul of the
land of Cl{etliim:" and afterwards, (viii. 5,) Perseus, the last
king of Macedon, lie callelh "king of the Citlims." By these
instances it appears, that the hind of Ckiltim was a general name
for the countries and islands in the Mediterranean : and there-
fore when Balaam said that ".ships should come from the coast
of Chittim," he might, mean either Greece or Italy, or hoih,
the particular names of those countries being at. that time per-
haps unknown in (lit! east: and the passage may lie the hotter
understood of both, because, it was equally true of both, and
Greece and Italy were alike the scourges of Asia.
* And shall a'lllict. Asshur," (Numb." xxiv. 21.) .flsskur, as we
noted before, signifies properly the descendants of Asshur, the
Assyrians: hut 8 their name was of as large extent as their
empire, and (he Syrians and Assyrians are often confounded
together, and mentioned as one and the same people. Now it is
so well known as to require no particular proof, that the Gre-
cians under the command of Alexander the Great subdued all
those countries. The Romans afterwards extended their em-
pire into the same regions; and as 9 Dion informs us, Assyria,
propony so called, was conquered by the emperor Trajan.
"And shall alllict Eber," (ibid.) Two interpretations are
proposed of the word Eber, either the posterity of a man so
called, or the people who dwelt on the other side of the Eu-
phrates. If by Eber we understand (he posterity of Eber, as
by Asshur the posterity of Asshur, which appears a very natural
construction; then Balaam, who was commissioned to bless
Israel at first, prophesied evil concerning them at last, though
under another name : but men and manners usually degenerate
in a long course of time ; and as the virtues of the progenitors
might entitle them to a blessing, so the vices of the descend-
* Vide Livii, 1. 45, c. 10, II, 12. Polyb. Assyrios pro iisiiem habent.' Buchart.
Legal, xcii. I. 29, c. 11. Phalej. 1. 2, c. 3, col. 72.
* 'Tam late patuil hoe. nomen quam tato ' Dionis Hist. Rom. 1. 68, § 26.
patuit luiperium, — multi veterura Syros ec
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BISHOP NEWTON
ants mi^ht render them obnoxious to a curse. However, we ma)
avoid lliis seeming inconsistence, if we follow the other inter-
pretation, and by Ebcr understand the people who dwelt, on the
other side of the river Euphrates, whirl) sense is given by On-"
kelos, 1 and is approved by several of the ancients, as well as
by many of the most, able commentators among the moderns,
and is particularly enforced by a learned 2 professor of eminent
skill in the oriental languages. The two members of the period
would then better connect together, and the sense of (he latter
would be somewhat cxegeliral of (he former; "and shall afflict
Asshur, and shall afflict Ebcr," shall afflict the Assyrians and other
neighbouring nations bordering upon the river Euphrates. And
ill's interpretation I would readily embrace, if I could sec any
instance of a parallel expression. Beyond the river, meaning
Euphrates, is indeed a phrase that sometimes occurs in Scrip-
ture, and the concordance will supply us with instances: hut,
where doth beyond alone ever bear that signification 1 I know
Gen. x. 21 is usually cited for this purpose ; but, that text is
as much controverted as this, and the question is the same there
as here, whether Eber be the proper name of a man, or only a
preposition signifying beyond, and beyond signifying the people
beyond the river Euphrates; or in other words, whether the
passage should be translated the father of all the children oj
Eber, or the father of all the children of the people on the other
side of the river Euphrates. Isaiah's manner of speaking of the
same people is, "by them beyond the river, by the king of As-
syria," (vii. 29 :) and one would expect the like here, shall afflict
Asshur, and shall afflict them beyond the river. But which ever of
these interpretations we prefer, the prophecy was alike fulfilled.
If we understand it of the people bordering upon the Euphrates,
they as well as the Assyrians were subdued both by the, Gre-
cians and Romans. If we understand it of the posterity of Eber,
the Hebrews were afflicted, though not much by Alexander
himself, yet by his successors the Selcucida?, and particularly
by Antiochus Epiphanes, who spoiled Jerusalem, defiled the
temple, and slew all those who adhered to the law of Moses,
(1 Mac. i.) They were worse afflicted by the Romans, who
not only subdued and oppressed then), and made their coun-
try a province of the empire, but at last took away their place
and nation, and sold and dispersed them over the face of the
earth.
"And he also shall perish for ever," (Numb. xxiv. 24,) that
is Chittim, who is the main subject of this part of the prophecy,
and whose ships were to afflict Asshur and to afflict Eber : but
ihis notwithstanding, he also shall be even to perdition, he also
1 ' Et suhjicient trans (lumen Euphratem.' 5 Hyile Hist. Re!ig. Vet. Pers. c. 2,
Onk. p. 52— 57.
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OX TI IE PROPHECIES.
77
.shall be destroyed as well as Amalek, lor in the original the
words arc | li<i same, concerning both, lie mi the singular num.
her cannot, well refer (o both .'Ixslnir mu\ ICher. lie must, natu-
rally nullify Chillim the pi incipul agent: anil if by Chilli m be
nieiuii the Grecians, the Grecian empire was entirely subverted
by the Woman; if the Romans, the Roman empire was in ils
turn broken into pieces by (Iks incursion of the. northern nations.
The name only of the Roman empire and Ca:sarcan majesty is
subsisting at this day, and is transferred to another country
and another people.
It appears then that Balaam was a prophet, divinely inspired,
or he could never have foretold so many distant events, some
of which arc fulfilling- in the world at this time: and what a
singular honour was it to the people of Israel, that a prophet
called from another country, and at the same time a wicked
man, should be obliged to bear testimony to their righteousness
and holiness 1 The commendations of an enemy, among ene-
mies, are commendations indeed. And Moses did justice to
himself as well as to his nation in recording these transactions.
They are not only a material part of his history, but are like-
wise a strong confirmation of the truth of his religion. Ba-
laam's hearing witness to Moses is somewhat like Jutlas's attest-
ing the innocence of Jesus.
V I. MOSES'S PROPHECY OF A PROPHET LIKE UNTO
HIMSELF.
"JVTOSES is a valuable writer, as upon many accounts, so par-
±TJ_ ticularly upon this, that he hath not only preserved and
transmitted to posterity several ancient prophecies, but hath
likewise shown himself a prophet, and inserted several predic-
tions of his own. Among these none is more memorable, than
that of another prophet to be raised like unto himself. He
was now about to leave his people, and comforts them with the
promise of another prophet, (Dent, xviii. 15:) "The Lord thy
God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee,
of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken."
The same is repeated at ver. 18, in the name of God, "I will
raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee,
and will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto
them all that I shall command him." It is farther added at
ver. 19, "And it shall come to pass that whosoever will not
hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will
require it of him." Plain as this prophecy is, it hath strangely
been perverted and misapplied : but I conceive nothing will be
wanting to the right understanding both of the prophecy and the
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BISHOP NEWTON
completion, if we ran show first what. prophet was here particu-
larly intended, if we show secondly that, lliis prnpliet resembled
Moses in mine respects than any oilier person ever did, and if
we show thirdly llr.it the people have been and still are severely
punished for their infidelity and disobedience to this prophet.
I. We will endeavour to show what, prophet was here parti-
cularly intended. Some have been of opinion, 'That Joshua
was i he person; because he is said in Eeelcsiasticus, (xlvi. 1,)
lo have been "successor of Moses in prophecies:" and as (he
people were commanded to hearken unto this prophet, "unto
him ye shall hearken;" so they said unto Joshua, (i. 17,)
"According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will
we beai ken unto thee." Some again have imagined, a that Je-
remiah was the person ; because he frequently applies (say
they) the words of Moses; and Abarbinel in his preface to his
commentary upon Jeremiah, reckons up fourteen particulars
wherein they resemble each other, and observes that Jeremiah
prophesied forty years, as Moses also did. Others, and those
many more in number, 3 understand this neither of Joshua,
nor of Jeremiah, nor of any single person, but of a succession
of prophets to be raised up like unto Moses ; because (say
(hey) (he people being here forbidden to follow after enchanters
and diviners, as other nations did, nothing would have secured
them effectually from following after them, but having true pro-
phets of their own, whom they might, consult upon occasion;
and the latter are opposed to the former. But still the pro-
pounders aiul favourers of these different opinions, I ihink,
agree generally in this, that though Joshua, or Jeremiah, or a
succession, of prophets was primarily intended, yet the main
end and ultimate scope of the prophecy was the Messiah : and
indeed there appear some very good reasons for understanding
it of him principally, if not of him solely, besides the preference
of a literal to a typical interpretation.
There is a passage in the conclusion of this book of Deute-
ronomy, which plainly refers to this prophecy, and entirely re-
futes the notion of Joshua being the prophet like unto Moses.
" And Joshua the. son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom;
for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of
Israel hearkened unto him; and did as the Lord commanded
Moses. And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like
unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face : In all the signs
and the wonders which the Lord sent him to do, &c." (xxxiv
9 — 11.) We cannot be certain at what time, or by what hand
'his addition was made to the sacred volume : but it must have
1 Sec Munstcr, Driisius, Fapus, Calmet, &c.
2 See Minister, Fagius, Patrick, Calmet, &c.
3 See Fagius, Poole, Le Clerc, Calmet, &c.
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
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been made after I lie death of Moses ; and consequently Joshua
■was not, a prophet. like unto Moses in the. opinion of the Jewish
church, both of those who made and of (hose who received thin
addition as canonical Scripture. "There arose not a prophet
since in Israel;" the manner of expression plainly implies, that,
this addition must, have been made at, some considerable distance
of time after the death of Moses ; and consequently the Jewish
church had no conception of a perpetual succession of prophets
to be raised up like unto Moses : and if this addition was made,
as it. is commonly believed to have been made, by Ezra after the
Babylonish captivity, then it is evident that neither Jeremiah
nor any of the ancient prophets was esteemed like unto Moses.
Consider what are the peculiar marks and characters, wherein
it is said that none other prophet had ever resembled Moses.
" There arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses,
whom the Lord knew lace to face, in all the signs and the won-
ders which the Lord sent him to do." And which of the pro-
phets ever conversed so frequently and familiarly with God, face
to face? which of them ever wrought so many and so great
miracles'? Nobody was ever equal or comparable to Moses in
these respects, but Jesus the Messiah.
God's declaration too, upon occasion of Miriam's and Aaron's
sedition, plainly evinces that there was to be no prophet in the
Jewish church, and much less a succession of prophets, like
unto Moses. Miriam and Aaron grew jealous of Moses, and
mutinied against him, saying, "Hath the Lord indeed spoken
only by Moses 1 hath he not spoken also by us 1" (Numb. xii.
2.) The controversy was of such importance, that God himself
interposed ; and what was his determination of the case 1 " If
there be a prophet among yon, I the Lord will make myself
known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.
My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house.
With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and
not in dark speeches ; and the similitude of the Lord shall he
behold : wherefore then were yc not afraid to speak against my
servant Moses ?" (ver. 6, 7, 8.) We see here that a great differ-
ence was made between Moses and other prophets, and also
wherein that difference lay. God revealed himself unto other
prophets in dreams and visions, but with Moses he conversed
more openly, moulh to mouth, or, as it is said elsewhere, face to
face : and Moses saw the similitude of the Lord. These were singu-
lar privileges and prerogatives, which eminently distinguished
Moses from all the other prophets of the Jewish dispensation :
and yet there was a prophet to be raised up like unto Moses:
but who ever resembled Moses in these superior advantages, but
Jesus the Messiah 1
It is likewise no inconsiderable argument, that the letter of
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SO BISHOP NEWTON
the It--;! favours our ni!;>rpr<'l;illotj. The word is in (lie singu-
lar number, ''The Lord ihy God will raise up unlo thee a
pmoh'-t ;" and why (lion should wo understand i(. of a succes-
■ : :;:! n!' j-nsjtlirls ? why should wc depart from the literal con-
>\rw i ■•. :i i without any anparei 1 1 necos.: i I y far it,? Other nations
ii,';;!''s."ird mito enchanters and diviners, but. the Lord would not
<rlli'r ih."isi so (odd ; ho hr.d given th<'in a bettor guide already,
; ••id would raise up unto them another prophet, superior (o all
i I >•:■ enchanters and diviners in the world : nolo him (hey should
hearken.
Moreover it is implied, that, this, prophet, should lie a lawgiver,
"A prophet like unto thee ;" not. simply a. prophet, lint a prophet
like unlo Moses, (hat is a second lawgiver, as '' Eusebius explains
it, The reason too that is assigned for sending lids prophet,
will evince that, lie was to he vested with this character. The
people had requested, that the divine laws might not he delivered
t o I lie; 11 in so terrible and awful a manner, as they had been in
I loreb. God approved their request, and promised therefore, (hat
he would raise up unto them a prophet like unto Moses, a law-
giver who should speak unto them his commands in a familiar
and gentle way. This prophet therefore was to be a lawgiver :
but none of the Jewish prophets were lawgivers, in all the inter-
mediate time between Moses and Christ.
If we farther appeal unto fact, we shall find that there never
was any prophet, and much less a succession of prophets, whom
the Jews esteemed like unto Moses. The highest degree of
inspiration they term the 5 Mosaic al, and enumerate several
particulars, wherein that hath the pre-eminence and advantage
above all others. There was, indeed, in consequence of (his
prophecy, a general expectation of some extraordinary prophet
to arise, which prevailed particularly about the time of our
Saviour. The Jews then, as well as 6 since, understood and ap-
plied this prophecy to the Messiah, the only prophet whom they
will ever allow to he as great or greater than Moses. "When
our Saviour had fed five thousand men, by a miracle like that of
Moses, who fed the Israelites in the wilderness, then those
men said, "This is of a truth that prophet that should come
into the world," (John vi. 14 ;) St. Peter and St. Stephen di-
rectly apply the prophecy to him, (Acts hi. 22, 23 ; vii. 37 :)
4 Euseb. Demons. Evang. 1. 1, c. 3, I. 9, phesicd without the ministry of an angel,
f. It. 3. All other prophets were afraid, and trou-
s See Smith's Discourse of Prophecy, bled, and fainted, but Moses was not so,
c. 2 and 11, wherein it is shown from for the Scripture saith that God spake to
Maimonides, that Moses's inspiration ex- him as a man speaheth to his friend, 4. None
celled all others in four particulars. 1. AH of the prophets did prophesy at what lime
tft'ie. prophets' prophesied in a dream or they would, save Moses,
vision, but Moses waking and standing. B See authorities cited in Bishop Chan-
~. All other prophets prophesied by the diet's Defence of Christianity, c. 6, § 2,
help or ministry of an angel, but Moses pro- p. 307, edit. 3d.
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
82
and Miry limy very well bo ju.-Mfied for so doing; for in: fully
answers all the marks and. ehaia. ins which me here given of
(he |ii,ij)hel. like nnlo Piloses. 1 5e had immediate communication
Willi ilie Deity, and God spake lo him J'.fc la face, as he did to
Moses. He performed signs ami wonders ;is great or greater Minn
those of Mose.s. He was a lawgiver as well as Moses. " I will
raise I hem up a prophet," sail h God ; and the people glorified
God, Haying, "That a great prophet is risen up among us,"
(Luke vii. 16.) " I will put my words in his mouth," sailh God,
in Hebrew will give my words; and our Saviour sailh, "I have
given unto thein the words which thou gavest me," (John xvii.
8.) "He shall speak unto them all that 1 shall command him,"
sailh God; and our Saviour sailh, "I have not spoken of my-
self; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a command-
ment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I
know that his commandment is life everlasting : whatsoever I
speak, therefore, even as the Father said unto mc, so I speak,"
(John xii. 49, 50.)
II. We shall be more and more confirmed in this opinion,
when we consider the great and striking likeness between Moses
and Jesus Christ, and that the latter resembled the fori nor in
more respects than any other person ever did. Notice hath been
taken already of some instances, wherein they resemble each
other, of God speaking to both face to face, of both performing
signs and ivonders, of both being lawgivers : and in these respectf;
none of the ancient prophets were like unto Moses. None ol
them were lawgivers ; they only interpreted and enforced the
law of Moses. None of them performed so many and so great
wonders. None of them had such clear communications with
God ; they all saw visions and dreamed dreams. Moses and
Jesus Christ are the only two who perfectly resemble each olher
iu these respects. But a more exact and particular comparison
may be drawn between them, and hath been drawn by two
eminent hands, by one of the best and ablest of the ancient fa-
thers, and by one of the most learned and ingenious of modem
divines ; and as we cannot pretend to .add any thing to them,
we must be content to copy from them.
Eusebius, treating of the prophecies concerning Christ, 7 pro-
duceth first this of Moses; and then asketh, which of the
prophets after Moses, Isaiah for instance, or Jeremiah, or Ezekiel,
or Daniel, or any other of the twelve was a lawgiver, and per-
formed things like unto Moses 1 ? Moses rescued the Jewish
nation from Egyptian superstition and idolatry, and taught them
the true theology; Jesus Christ in like manner was the firs'
teacher of true religion and virtue to the Gentiles. Moses con-
firmed his religien by miracles ; and so likewise did Christ
' Eusebii Demons. Evangel. 1. 3 c. 2.
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Moses il< ?i vi'n-J the isli Million from Egyptian servitude,
and Jesus ( 'in ir i a!l mankind from (In: power of evil demons.
Moses promised ;i holy laud, and I herein a happy life to those
who kept I he l;iw; and Jesus Christ !i heller country, that is a
he,-!\enl\, lo , -ill righteous souls. Moses fasted forty days ; and
solikewi-e did Christ. Moses supplied the people with hread
in the wilderness; ;ui<l our Saviour fed five thousand at one time,
;mil four lhous;i!id n.l, ;n lot her, with a lew loaves. Moses went
hini-elf, and led the people through (.lie midst, of the sea; rind
Jesus Christ walked on (he sea, and enabled Poler lo walk like-
wise. Muses slrelehed out his hand over (he sea, and the Lord
i ;iii-ed (lie sea lo go backward ; and our Saviour relinked (ho
wind and I he sea, and then; was a. great calm. Moses' face
shone, w hen he. descended (Vom the mount, and our Saviour's
did shine as (he. sun in his transfiguration. Moses hy his prayers
cured Miriam of her leprosy; and Christ with greater power hy
a word healed several lepers. Moses performed wonders hy the
linger of God ; and Jesus Christ hy the linger of Cod did cast, out
dev ils. Moses changed < )shca.'s name lo Joshua. ; and our Sa-
viour did Simon's lo Peter. Moses constituted seventy rulers
over the people ; and our Saviour appointed seventy dhciples.
Moses sent, forth twelve men lo spy out the land; and one Sa-
viour twelve apostles to visit, all nations. Moses gave seve'al
evcellenl. moral precepts; and our Saviour carried them to the
highest perfection.
Dr. Jorlin* hat h enlarged upon these hints of Eusebius, and
made several improvements, and additions lo litem. Moses in
his infancy was wonderfully preserved from the destruction of
all the male, children; so was Christ. Moses lied from his
country to escape the hands of the king; so did Christ, when
his parents carried him into Egypt: afterwards "the Lord
said to Moses in Midian, (Jo, return, into Egypt; for all the
men are dead which sought thy lift;," (Exod. iv. 1!) ;) so llic
angel of the Lord said to Joseph in almost llic same words,
" Arise, and lake the young child, and go into (he land of Israel ;
for they are dead which sought the young child's life," (Malt,
ii. 20 ;) pointing him out as it were for that prophet, w ho should
arise like unto Moses. Moses refused to he called the son of
Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction ; Christ
refused to he made king, choosing rather to sufler affliction.
Moses, says St. Stephen, " was learned {ImuUOn) in all the
wisdom of the Egyptians," and Joseph us (Ant. Jud. ii. 9) says,
that he was very a forward and accomplished youth, and had
wisdom and knowledge beyond his years ; St.. Luke observes of
Christ, that "he increased (betimes) in wisdom and stature,
and in favour with God and man," and his discourses in the
8 ttemarks on Ecclesiastical History, vol. i. p. 203 — 222.
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•(••molt! with the doctors, when lie \v;h twelve years old, were a
proof of it.. Moses contended with tin- magicians, who were
forced to acknowledge the divine power hy which lie was as-
sisted ; Christ, ejected evil spirits, and received the same ac-
knowledgments from (hem. Moses was not, only a lawgiver, a
prophet, and a worker of miracles, hut, a king and a priest:
in all these offices the resemhlanee between Moses and Christ
was singular. Moses brought darkness over the land ; the suit
withdrew his light at, Christ's crucifixion: and as the darkness
which was spread over Egypt was followed by the destruction
of their first-born, and of Pharaoh and his host; so the dark-
ness at Christ's death was the forerunner of the destruction of
the Jews. Moses foretold the calamities which would befall the
nation for their disobedience ; so did Christ. The spirit which
was in Moses was conferred in some degree upon the seventy
elders, and they prophesied ; Christ conferred miraculous
powers upon his seventy disciples. Moses was victorious over
powerful kings and great nations; so was Christ hy the effects
of his religion, and by the fall of those who persecuted his
church. Moses conquered Atnalek by holding up both hi?
hands ; Christ, overcame his and our enemies when his hand?
were fastened to the cross. Moses interceded for transgressors
and caused an atonement to be made for them, and stopped the
wrath of God; so did Christ. Moses ratified a covenant be-
tween God and the people hy sprinkling them with blood;
Christ with his own blood. Moses desired to die for the people,
and prayed that God would forgive them, or blot him out oi
his book ; Christ did more, he died for sinners. Moses insti-
tuted the passover, when a lamb was sacrificed, none of whose
bones were to be broken, and whose blood protected the people
from destruction : Christ was that paschal lamb. Moses lifted
up the serpent, that they who looked upon him might be healed
of their mortal wounds ; Christ was that serpent. All Moses's
affection towards the people, all his cares and toils on their
account were repaid by them with ingratitude, murmuring, and
rebellion; the same returns the Jews made to Christ for all his
benefits. Moses was ill used by his own family, his brother
and sister rebelled against him ; there was a time when Christ's
own brethren believed not in him. Moses had a very wicked
and perverse generation committed to his care and conduct,
and to enable him to rule them, miraculous powers were given
to htm, and he used his utmost endeavour to make the people
obedient to God, and save them from ruin ; but in vain ; in the
space of forty years they all fell in the wilderness except two ;
Christ also was given to a generation not less wicked and per-
verse, his instructions and his miracles were lost upon them,
and in about the same space of time, after they had rejected
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BISHOP NEWTON
him, they were destroyed. Moses was very meek, above all men
that were on the lace of the earth ; so was Christ. The people
could not enter into the land of promise till Moses was dead :
by the death of Christ the kingdom of heaven was open to be-
lievers. In the death of Moses and Christ, there is also a resem-
blance of some circumstances: Moses died, in one sense, for
the iniquities of the people; it was their rebellion which was
the occasion of it, which drew down the displeasure of God
upon them and upon him; Moses went up, in the sight of the
people, to the top of mount Nebo, and there he died, when he
was in perfect vigour, when "his eye was not dim, nor his
natural forte abated:" Christ suffered for the sins of men, and
was led up, in the presence of the people, to mount Calvary,
where he died in the flower of his age, and when he was in his
full natural strength. Neither Moses nor Christ, as far as we may
collect from sacred history, were ever sick, cr felt any bodily
decay or infirmity, which would have rendered them unfit, for the
toils they underwent; their sufferings were of another kind.
Moses was buried, and no man knew where his body lay ; nor could
the Jews find the body of Christ. Lastly, as Moses a little before
death promised another prophet ; so Christ another comforter.
The great similitude consists in their both being lawgivers,
which no prophet ever was besides Moses and Christ. They
may resemble each other in several other features, and a fruit-
ful imagination may find out a likeness where there is none.
But as the same excellent writer concludes. ! Is this simili-
tude and correspondence in so many things between Moses and
Christ the effect of mere chance 1 Let us search all the records
of universal history, and see if we can find a man who was so
like to Moses as Christ was, and so like to Christ as Moses
was. If we cannot find such a one, then have we found him
of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write, Jesus
of Nazareth, the Son of God.'
III. There is no want of many words to prove, for it is visi-
ble to all the world, that the people have been and still are
severely punished for their infidelity and disobedience to this
prophet. The prophecy is clear and express; "Unto him ye
shall hearken ; And it shall come to past that whosoever will
not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name,
I will require it of him," that is, I will severely punish him for
it, as the phrase signifies elsewhere. The antecedent is put for
the consequent: judges first inquired, then punished: and the
Seventy translate it, 9 / will take vengeance of him. This pro-
phecy, as we have proved at large, evidently relates to Jesus
Christ. God himself in a manner applies it to him : for when he
was transfigured, (Matt, xvii. 5,) there came "a voice out o,
the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son in whom I am
* 'Eyw h^iKf/ohi t^avrov. Sept.
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well pleased ; hear yc him ;" alluding plainly fo the words of
Mews, "Unto l iiii ye shall hearken," and so pointing him out,
for the prophet, like, unto Moses. St. Peter, as we noted licfore,
directly applies it to our Saviour, (Arts iii. 22, 23 :) "For Moses
truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God
raise, up unto you, of your brethren, like unto me : him shall ye
hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you: And it
shall come to pass, that, every soul which will not hear that, pro-
phet, shall he destroyed from among the people;" which is the
sense, rather than the words of the prophecy. And hath not, this
tcrrihle denunciation heen fully executed upon the Jews 1 Was
not the complete excision of that incredulous nation, soon after
Jesus had finished his ministry among them, and his apostles
had likewise preached in vain, the fulfilling of the threat upon
them for not hearkening unto him 1 We may be the more certain
of t his application, as our Saviour himself not only denounced
the same destruction, but also foretold the signs, the manner,
and the circumstances of it, with a particularity and exactness
that, will amaze us ; as we shall see in a proper place : and those
of the Jews who believed in his name, by remembering the cau-
tion and following the advice which he had given them, escaped
'from the general ruin of their country, like firebrands plucked
out of the fire. The main bod}'' of the nation either perished in
their infidelity, or were carried captive into all nations : and
have they not, ever since persisting in the same infidelity, been
obnoxious to the same punishment, and been a vagabond, dis-
tressed, and miserable people in the earth 1 The hand of God
was scarce ever more visible in any of his dispensations. We
must be blind not to see it : and seeing, we cannot but admire
and adore it. What other probable account can they themselves
give of their long captivity, dispersion, and misery 1 Their for-
mer captivity for the punishment of all their wickedness and
idolatry lasted only seventy years : but they have lived in their
present dispersion, even though they have been no idolaters, now
these seventeen hundred years, and yet without any immediate
prospect of their restoration : and what enormous crime could
have drawn down, and, unrepented of, still continues to draw
down, these heavy judgments upon them 1 We say that they
were cut off for their infidelity ; and that when they shall turn
to the faith, they will be grafted in again. One would think, it
should be worth their while to try the experiment. Sure we are,
that they have long been monuments of God's justice ; we
believe, that upon their faith and repentance they will become
again objects of his mercy: and in the mean time with St. Paul,
(Rom. x. 1,) " our hearts' desire and prayer to God for Israel is,
that they may be saved."
8
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VII. HiOl'JIECIES OF MOSES CONCEKNIIV'G TOE JEWS.
IT is observable that tlic prophecies of Moses abound most ip
tin' Inner port of his writings. As lie drew nearer his end,
it pleased (iod lo open to" him larger prospects of things. As he
was ahmii lo take leave of the people, lie was enabled to disclose
unto (hem more particulars- of their future state and condition.
Tin* design of this work w ill permit us to take notice of such
only as have some reference to these latter ages: and we will
confine ourselves principally to the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy,
the greater part whereof we may see accomplished in the world
at this present lime.
This great prophet and lawgiver is here proposing at large to
(he people the blessings for obedience, and tire curses for dis-
obedience : and indeed lie had foretold at several limes and upon
several occasions, that, they should be happy or miserable in the
world, as I hey were obedient or disobedient to the law that he
had given them. And could there be any stronger evidence of
the divine original of the Mosaical law 1 and hath not the inter-
position of providence been wonderfully remarkable in their good
or bad fortune 1 and is not the truth of the prediction fully
attested by the whole series of their history from their first settle-
ment in Canaan to this very day 1 but he is larger and more
particular in recounting the curses than the blessings, as if he
had a prescience of the people's disobedience, and foresaw that a
larger portion and longer continuation of the evil would fall to
their share, than of the good. 1 know that some critics make a
division of these prophecies, and imagine that one part relates to
the former captivity of the Jews, and to the calamities which
they suffered under the Chakkeans; and that the other part re-
lates to the latter captivity of the Jews, and to the calamities
which they suffered under the Romans : but there is no need of
any such distinction ; there is no reason to think that any such
was intended by the author ; several prophecies of the one part
as well as of the other have been fulfilled at both periods, but
they have all more amply been fulfilled during the latter period :
and there cannot be a more lively picture than they exhibit, of
the state of the Jews at present.
1. We will consider them with a view to the order of time
rather than the order wherein they lie ; and we may not im-
properly begin with this passage, ver. 49, "The Lord shall bring
a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as
swift as the eagle flieth, a nation whose tongue thou shalt not
understand :" and the Chaldaeans might be said to come from
far, in comparison with the Moabites, Philistines, and other
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neighbouring nations, which used to infest Jiulca. MulIi the
same cicsc ri|j( ion is given of the Chalda ans liy Jeremiah, (v. 15,)
" Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O hoti.se of
Israel, saith the Lord: it is a mighty nation, it. is an ancient
nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither un-
derstandest. wha t t.hey say." lie compares I hem in like man-
ner to eagles, (Lam. iv. 19 :) "Our pursucuf.org are swifter than
the eagles of the heaven: they pursued us upon the mountains,
they laid wait, for us in the wilderness." 13ut this description
cannot he applied to any nation with such propriety as to the
Romans. They were truly brought "from far, from the end of
the earth." Vespasian and Adrian, the two great conquerors
and destroyers of the Jews, both came from commanding here
in Britain. The Romans too for the rapidity of their conquests
might very well he compared to eagles, and perhaps not with-
out an allusion to the standard of the Roman armies, which
was an eagle : and their language was more unknown to the
Jews than the Chaklee.
2. The enemies of the Jews are farther characterized in the
next verso, "A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not
regard the person of the old, nor show favour to the young."
Such were the Chaldamns; and the sacred historian saith ex-
pressly, (2 Chron. xxxvi. 17,) that for the wickedness of the
Jews, God "brought upon them the king of the Chaldccs, who
slew their young men with the sword, in the house of their
sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden,
old man, or him that stooped for age ; he gave them all into
his hand." Such also were the Romans : for when Vespasian
entered Gadara, 1 Josephus saith, that ' he slew all man by man,
the Romans showing mercy to no age, out of hatred to the
nation, and remembrance of their former injuries.' The like
slaughter was made at Gamala, 2 ' For no body escaped besides
two women, and they escaped by concealing themselves from
the rage of the Romans. For they did not so much as spare
young children, but every one at that time snatching up many
cast them down from the citadel.'
3. Their enemies were also to besiege and take their cities,
ver. 52 : " And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy
high and fenced walls come down, wherein thod trustedst,
1 Kni irap&dwv c*(ru), irdvras ^Sn^av avaipti,
urfefufii tuiv 'Yiapaitav fjXtxias t\tov rroiov-
fitvuv, piatt re trad; ro eOvos, Kai fivrjpri Tr}$
Kara rbv Kfrrriov aiiruiv TZaoavofitas. £t delude
in earn intromits, puheres omnes interfici jits-
sit, Romania nidli cEtnti misericordiam adhi-
bentibus, tarn ex oitio in gentem, quam mono-
ria iniquitidis illorum in Ceslium. Bell. Jud.
I. 3,c. 7, § 1.
a AticwOij 51 x\>iv ovo yvvaiKuv oiSds. —
Aicvutdrjoav t} } r<5j irapa tt)v aXwaiv <Jpyas
Piii^aio)V \a9ovoni. Ov5t yiip vi]7t[wv etptt-
6ovTo t 7roXA(i [5f 'iKacTos t6t£ aondfyvTes fry
<piv&6vii>v arib Tr;>i aVpaf. Nemo autem prater
duos nudieres interitum e/fugit. — Evaserunt
autem, quoa irce Romanorum in excidio sese
aubduxerint. iVec enim infantibus peperce-
runl t multos vero singuh eo tempore raptns ex
arce projiciebani. Bell. Jud. ]. 4, c. 1, § 10.
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BISHOP NEWTON
thnni'-rhotit all ill v 1;i i ill." Fo "Shahnanesrr king of Assyria
came iiji again«l Samaria, ami besieged il, and at the end of
tin \eais they took il," (2 Kings xviii. !>, 10.) So "did
S'liirii-hi-nl) king <n'' Assyria come up against, all (he fenced
riiic. hi'. hula h, ami took limn," (Hi. ver. 13:) and Nebuchad-
lu /.y.ai ami his captains look and spoiled Jerusalem, burned the
cii\ ami temple, "and brake down the walks of Jerusalem round
ai".iit," (lb. \\v. 10.) Ho likewise tin; I'omans, as we may read
in .loM'pluis's history of the Jewish war, demolished several
loiiii'ted places, before they besieged and destroyed Jerusalem.
Ami the Jews may very well be said to have trusted in their high
iiifl lawril ictills, lor thev seldom ventured a battle in the open
held. Thev confided iit ihe strength and situation of Jerusalem,
as ihe Jebusiti's, the former inhabitants of the place, had done
before them, (2 Sam. v. C>, 7 :) insomuch that they are repre-
sented saving, (Jer. xxi. 1;},) "AVho shall come down against
>w .' or who shall enter into out habitation V Jerusalem was
indeed a very strong place, and wonderfully fortified both by
nature and art, according to the description of 3 Tacitus as well
as of Josephus : and yet 4 how many times was it taken 1 It was
taken by Shishak king of Egypt, by Nebuchadnezzar, by Antio-
cbu< Kpiphanes, by Pompcy, by Sosius and Herod, before its final
destruction by Titus.
•1. In tlioe sieges they were to suffer much, and especially
from famine, "in the straitness wherewith their enemies should
di.-lress them," ver. 53, &c. And accordingly when the king
of Syria besieged Samaria, "ihere was a great famine in Sa-
maria; and behold they besieged it, until an ass's head was
sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab
of doves' dung for five pieces of silver," (2 Kings vi. 25.) And
when Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem, "the famine pre-
vailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the
land," (2 Kings xxv. 3.) And in the last siege of Jerusalem
by the Romans these was a most, terrible famine in the city,
and Josephus hath given so melancholy an account of it, that
we cannot read it without, shuddering. He saith, particularly,
5 that 'women snatched the food out of the very mouths of their
hii.-'-ands, and sous of their fathers, and (what, is most miser-
able) mothers of their infants:' and in 'another place he saith,
3 TVi'i Hist. I, 5, e. 11, 12. Josephus
Jr.- H -J. Jllrl. I, S, r. .| CI 5.
' S.-.- ,!..<. -pi. ns ili- If, -II. .In. 1. 1, fi, .-. nil.
" Vi viuKtf yni'v ai' .jiijr, K<ti I.-; rdriinuVf
text TO ultiTtiirartti' ftr/Ti'ttti ri?*l >i»' /£»'oth^«i'
nirCiv run- cTi\tt'iTu)V 7<if ro'j'/.i's"- Sfjiitib tit
M.r-irn nru, ttjlllt JitirrttliliUH. t.t 1 ifUtitl ii/imiu/ll
Iti'LHWir miSLTuhilr trnl tlut'Tti i'lf'llltl'iilJI ri~
•um rj ore rttpitbixnt. IK-ll. Jml. I. o,
6 K./0' iKtScrije yiicj otititiv, tt 7roEJ rpo05f
Trnnmpitvihi atctii. v/jlt/iii; .}.-, kui 6iA yiict&v
ij^tltoovv at t/il^TttTai Ttibi il^XiJAoiis, i^tiynu^ov-
Ttv ra ToXiUtrtupu ttiS \iu^i/S tt^&ia. Per
Hirt'jitltiH 'juijijii: tlomtifi, mc.tthi net vmbra ap-
pttruiitxtt ribif btlhnn idir.o ^trtbulur, ct ami-
ctaMjiiti r/uiryue ittttr sc 'icriler dim : >jc.abant, sibi
fat trttn miscra ulw subaidia eripimtes. L. 6,
c. 3, \ 3.
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lli.it 'in every house, if there appeared rmy semblance of food,
a battle ensued, and (lie dearest friends and relations fought
Willi one. anolher, snatching away the miserable provisions of
life :' so literally were (lie, words of Moses fulfilled, ver. 51, &c.
(he man's "eye shall lie, evil towards his brother, and towards
the wife of his bosom, and towards his children, because he
Ji.il 1 1 nothing left, him in the siege, and in the straitness where-
with thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates," and in
like manner the woman's "eye shall he evil towards the hus-
band of her bosom, and towards her son, and towards her
daughter."
5. Nay, it was expressly foretold, that not. only the men, but
even (he women should eat their own children. Moses had
foretold the same thing before, (Levit. xxvi. 29,) "Ye shall eat
the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye
eat." lie repeats it here, ver. 53, "And thou slialt eat the
fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daugh-
ters :" and more particularly, ver. 56. &c. "The tender and
delicate woman among you, who would not adventure to set
the sole of her foot, upon the ground, for delicaleness and ten-
derness — she shall eat her children for want of all things secretly
in the siege and stoutness, wherewith thine enemies shall dis-
tress thee in thy gates." And it was fulfilled about COO years
after the time of Moses among the Israelites, when Samaria" was
besieged by the king of Syria, and two women agreed together,
the one to give up her son to be boiled and eaten to-day, and
the other to deliver up her son to be dressed and eaten to-mor-
row, and one of them was eaten accordingly, (2 Kings vi. 28,
29.) It was fulfilled again about 900 years after the time of
Moses, among the Jews in the siege of Jerusalem before the
Babylonish captivity ; and Baruch thus expresscth it, (ii. 1, Sic.)
" The Lord hath made good his word, which he pronounced
against us, to bring upon us great plagues, such as never hap-
pened iimler the whole heaven, as it came to pass in Jerusalem,
according to the things that were written in the law of Moses,
that a man should eat the flesh of his own son, and the flesh
of his own daughter :" and Jeremiah thus laments it in his
Lamentations, (iv. 10,) "The hands of the pitiful women have
sodden their own children, they were their meat in the destruc-
tion of the daughter of my people." And again it was fulfilled
above 1500 years after the time of Moses in the last siege of
Jerusalem by Titus, and we read in Josephus particularly of a
noble woman's killing and eating her own sucking child. Mo-
ses saith, " The tender and delicate woman among you, who
would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground,
for delicaleness and tenderness :" and there cannot be a more
natural and lively description of a woman, who was according-
8* M
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BISHOP NEWTON
to : Joseplnis, illustrious for Iter family and riches. Moses saith,
'•she shall ciii theni for want of all things:" and according to
Josephus >!ir had been plundered of all her substance and pro-
vision- liy :hc tyrants and soldiers. Moses saith, that she should
dn ii - sr'Tiily and according to Joseplnis, when she had boiled
and e.ucii liali', she covered up tlie rest, and kept it for another
liuic Al so many ditlerent limes and distant periods hath this
pivphery been fulfilled ; ami one would have thought that such
distress and horror had almost transcended imagination, and
much less that any person could certainly. have foreseen and
foretold it.
(i. Great numbers of them were to he destroyed, ver. 62,
"And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the
stars of heaven for multitude." Now not to mention any other
of the calamities and slaughters which they have undergone,
there was in the last siege of Jerusalem by Titus an infinite
multitude, saith 8 Joseplnis, who perished by famine : and he
computes, that during the whole siege, the number of those who
were destroyed by that and by the war amounted to 1,100,000,
the people being assembled from all parts to celebrate the passo-
ver : and the same author hath given us an account of 1,240,490
destroyed in Jerusalem and other parts of Judea, besides 99,200
made prisoners ; as 8 Basnage has reckoned them up from that
historian's account. Indeed there is not a nation upon earth,
that hath been exposed to so many massacres and persecutions.
Their history abounds with them. If God had not given them
a promise of a numerous posterity, the whole race would many
a time have been extirpated.
7. They were to be carried into Egypt, and sold for slaves
at a very low price, ver. 68, " And the Lord shall bring thee
into Egypt again, with ships : and there ye shall be sold unto
your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall
buy you." They had come out of Egypt triumphant, but now
they should return thither as slaves. They had walked through
the sea as dry land at their coming out, but now they should
be carried thither in ships. They might be carried thither in
the ships of the Tyrian or Sidonian merchants, or by the Ro-
mans who had a ileet in the Mediterranean : and this was a
T Aid vivos Kai t:\outov tirt/rrjftos, frencre
attptc. npilmn iUvxtri* ru^rtjj Wjc uh
a\X>]s Krf/fTtv ot rvoavvoi httpxaanv k. t- A.
JrfujuA alius fpwkm j'nntllutm jam tyranm
diri put rant, ij-c. eirttr* 6vTi t a"ca rd
ffv tjfttrv KtiTiirOutj rd ce "Xutitbv k<itoku\(>-
$ttca iipvXdrrcv. Coctum dvinde ipsa quide.m
t.ltmi*iium (jus comrdit f adopcrlum vera reli-
juittu trrralat. lit.-ll. Jiul. I. 6, c. 3, § 4.
Twi' fi v-d row ^tfxov (pOttoofitvwv Kara
't)v T'jAu' avCtOov ply tmitTt rd ir\rjOos.
Eorum antem, qui per civitatem fame peri-
crunt infinita quidem cecidit multitude. Bell.
Jud. 1. 6, c. 3, § 3.
Tu5v <5* aizo'Kovftiviov Kara Taaav rr>v iroXt-
ook'iuv f apif/ids ] jivpia'tStf Uarbv mi diica.
Tortus autem obsutimtis tempore undecies cen-
hna hominum millia perienmt. Ibid. c. 9.
§3.
s Hist, oflhe Jews, b. ], c. 8, § 19. Sea
loo the conclusion of Usher's Annals.
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much safer way of conveying so many prisoners, than sending
them l>v land. It appears from 1 Joscphus I li.it in 1 he reigns of
the I wo first, Ptolemies many of tin: .lews were slaves in Egypt.
And when Jerusalem was taken by Til us, '"of ihe captives who
were above seventeen years be sent many bound lo I be works in
Egvpl ; those under seventeen were sold : lint so little care was
taken of these captives, that 11,000 of litem perished for want.
The markets were quite overstocked with I bent, so that Joseplnis
says in another place, that they were sold with their wives and
children at the lowest price, there being many lo he si, Id and
but. few purchasers; so that hereby also was verified that of
the Psalmist, (xliv. 13,) "Thou sellest Ihy people for nought,
and lakest no money for them." And we learn from 3 >St. Je-
rome, that 'after their last overthrow by Adrian, many thou-
sands of them were sold; and (hose who could not. be sold, were
transported into Egypt, and perished by shipwreck or famine,
or were massacred by the inhabitants.'
8. They were to be rooted out of their own land, ver. G3 :
" And ye shall be plucked from off the land w hither thou goest
to possess it.'' They were indeed plucked from off I heir own land,
when the ten tribes were carried into captivity by the king of
Assyria, and other nations were planted in their stead; and
when the two other tribes were carried away captive to Baby-
lon ; and when the Romans took aw^ay their place and nation ;
besides other captivities and transportations of the people.
Afterwards when the Emperor Adrian had subdued the rebel-
lious Jews, he published an 4 edict forbidding them upon pain of
death to set foot in Jerusalem, or even to approach the coun-
try round about it. Tertullian and Jerome say, 5 that they
were prohibited from entering into Judca. From that time to
this, their country bath been in the possession of foreign lords
and masters, few of the Jews dwelling in it, and those inly of
a low servile condition. Benjamin of Tudela in Spain, a cele-
brated Jew of the twelfth century, travelled into all parts to
visit those of his own nation, and to learn an exact state of
their affairs ; and he 6 hath reported, (bat Jerusalem was almost
entirely abandoned by the Jews. He found there not above
1 .lospph. Ant. 1. 12, c. 1 et 2.
2 Toi'S birip i-nTattatftKa err h)<rns
intp^zv tU tA kit Aiyvxrtjv cpya, of
6' £vr6s iTTTfiKtii&iKti frwv enpudicav. 'E^Od-
pntrttv cV ttvr&v iv my falxpivsv b Qpdvruv foif-
paii bit* tVMtfs, %t\iat vpos rati pvpiots . An-
nis xvu mnjores vinclos admetdtla exercenda
in JE^iiptuin misil ; — Quicunque vera infra
xvn annum a'talis erant, sub corona ven-
diti sum. litdern autem diebus, dum a Fron-
tone secerncbantur, ex inedia perierunt xi
millia. Bell. Jud. 1. 6, c. 9, § 2 j et e. 8, § 2.
* ' — Post ultimam eversionem quam
sustinuerunt ab Adriano, multa liominum
millia venundata sint ; et quic vemli non
potuerint, translata in iEtfyptum ; et lam
naufragio et fame quam gentium eirde trun-
cata.' Hieron. in Zachariam, u. 11.
4 Justin Martyr. Apol. Ima, p. 71, Edit
Thirlbii. Euseh. Ecrles. Hist. 1. 4, c. 6.
s Tertnli. Apol. c. 21. Hieron. in Isaiam,
c. 6; in Dan. c. 9.
6 See Benjamin. Itin. and Busnage'3 H'isU
of the Jews, b. 7 c. 7.
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BISHOP NEWTON
two hundred persons, who were for the most part dyers of wool;
anil who every year purchased (he privilege of the monopoly of
dial trade. They lived all together under David's tower, and
made there a very litilc figure. If Jerusalem had so few Jews
in ii, i!ie rest of the Holy Land was still more depopulate,
lie found two of them in one city, twenty in another, most
whereof were dyers. In other places there were more persons ;
lint in Upper Galilee, where the nation was in greatest repute
alter the ruin of Jerusalem, he found hardly any Jews at all.
A very accurate and faithful 7 traveller of our own nation, who
was himself also in the Holy Land, saith that 'it is for the most
prut now inhabited by Moors and Arabians; those possessing
the valleys, and these the mountains. Turks there be few ;
but many Greeks, with other Christians of all sects and nations,
such as impute to the place an adherent holiness. Here be
also some Jews ; yet inherit they no part of the land, but in
their own country do live as aliens.'
9. But. they were not only to be plucked off from their own
land, but also to be dispersed into all nations, ver. 25 ; " And
thou shalt lie removed into all the kingdoms of the earth :" and
again, ver. G4 ; " And the Lord shall scatter thee among all peo-
ple, from one end of the earth even unto the other." Nehc-
rniah (i. 8, 9) confesseth that these words were fulfilled in the
Babylonish captivity ; but they have more amply been fulfilled
since the great dispersion of the Jews by the Romans. What
people indeed have been scattered so far and wide as they ]
and where is the nation, which is a stranger to them, or to
which they are strangers? They swarm in many parts of the
East, and spread through most of the countries of Europe and
Africa, and there arc several families of them in the West In-
dies. They circulate through all parts where trade and money
circulate, and are, as I may say, the brokers of the whole
world.
10. But though they should be so dispersed, yet they should
not be totally destroyed, but still subsist as a distinct people,
as Moses had before foretold, (Levit. xxvi. 44 :) " And yet for
all that, when the}' be in the land of their enemies, I will not
cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them
utterly, and to break my covenant with them." The Jewish
nation, 8 like the bush of Moses, hath been always burning, but
is never consumed. And what a marvellous thing is it, that
after so many wars, battles, and sieges, after so many fires,
famines, and pestilences, after so many rebellions, massacres,
and persecutions, after so many years of captivity, slavery, and
misery, they are not destroyed utterly, and though scattered
among all people, yet subsist as a distinct people, by them-
' Sanrlys's Travels, b. 3, p. Ill, Till EJ. 8 Basnage's Hist. Jews.b. 6, c. 1, § 1.
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93
selves? Where is any tiling- comparable to this to be found in
all (lie histories, and in all the nations under the sun ?
11. However, they should suffer iiiutli in their dispersion,
and should not rest long in any place, ver. G5 : "And among
these nations shalt thou find no case, neither shall the sole of
thy foot have rest." They have been so far from finding rest,
that they have been banished from city to city, front country
to country. In many places they have been banished and re-
called, and banished again. We will only just mention their
great banishments in modern times, and from countries very
well known. In the latter end of the thirteenth century they
'were banished from England by Edward I. and were not per-
mitted to return and settle again till Cromwell's time. In the
latter end of the fourteenth century they 1 were banished from
France (for the seventh time, says Mezeray) by Charles VI. ;
and ever since they have been only tolerated, they have not
enjoyed entire liberty, except at Metz, where they have a syna-
gogue. In the latter end of the fifteenth century 2 they were
banished from Spain by Ferdinand .and Isabella ; and according
to Mariana, there were 170,000 families, or as some say 800,000
persons who left the kingdom. Most of them paid dearly to
John II. for a refuge in Portugal, but within a few years were
expelled from thence also by his successor Emanuel. And in
our own time, within these few years, they were banished from
Prague by the queen of Bohemia.
12. They should be " oppressed and spoiled evermore ;" and
their houses and vineyards, their oxen and asses should be
taken from them, and they should "be only oppressed and
crushed alway," ver. 29 — 33. And what frequent seizures have
been made of their effects in almost all countries 1 how often
have they been fined and fleeced by almost all governments ]
how often have they been forced to redeem their lives with
what is almost as dear as their lives, their treasure 1 Instances
are innumerable. We will only cite an 3 historian of our own,
who says that Henry III. 'always polled the Jews at every low
ebb of his fortunes. One Abraham, who was found delinquent,
was forced to pay 700 marks for his redemption. Aaron, an-
other Jew, protested that the king had taken from him at times
30,000 marks of silver, besides 200 marks of gold, which he had
presented to the queen. And in like manner he used many
others of the Jews.' And when they were banished in the
reign of Edward I. their estates were confiscated, and immense
sums thereby accrued to the crown.
" See Kenrret, Echard, and Basnage's not. et Basnage, b. 7, c. 18.
Hist, of the Jews, b. 7, c. 19. 2 See Mariana's Hist, of Spain, b. 28j
1 'On enjoignit aux Juifa pour la septi- c. 1 et 6, and Basnage, b. 7, c. 21.
esme-fois,' &c. See Mezeray Abrege Chro- 3 Daniel in Kennet, vol. i. p. 179.
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13. "Their sons and their daughters should he given unto
another people," ver. 32. And in several countries, in Spain and
Portugal particularly, their children have been taken from them
by order of the government, to he educated in the popish re-
ligion. The 4 fourth council of Toledo ordered, that all their
children should be taken from them for fear they should par-
take of their errors, and that they should be shut up in monas-
teries, to be instructed in the Christian truths. And when they
were banished from Portugal, 'the king,' says 5 Mariana, 'or-
dered all their children under fourteen years of age, to be taken
from them and baptized: a practice not at all justifiable,' adds
the historian, 'because none ought to be forced to become
Christians, nor children to be taken from their parents.'
14. "They should be mad for the sight of their eyes which
they should see," ver. 34. And into what madness, fury, and
desperation have they been pushed by the cruel usage, extor-
tions, and oppressions which they have undergone 1 We will
allege only two similar instances, one from ancient, and one
from modern history. After the destruction of Jerusalem by
Titus, 6 some of the worst of the Jews took refuge in the castle
of Masada, where being closely besieged by the Romans, they
at the persuasion of Eleazar their leader, first murdered their
wives and children ; then ten men were chosen by lot to slay
the rest ; this being done, one of the ten was chosen in like
manner to kill the other nine, which having executed, he
set fire to the place, and then stabbed himself. There were
960 who perished in this miserable manner ; and only two wo-
men and five boys escaped by hiding themselves in the aque-
ducts under ground. Such another instance we have in our
English history. For 7 in the reign of Richard I. when the peo-
ple were in arms to make a general massacre of them, 1500 of
them seized on the city of York to defend themselves ; but
being besieged, they offered to capitulate, and to ransom their
lives with money. The offer being refused, one of them cried
in despair, that it was better to die courageously for the law,
than to fall into the hands of the Christians. Every one imme-
diately took his knife, and stabbed his wife and children. The
men afterwards retired into the king's palace, which they set
on fire, in which they consumed themselves with the palace
and furniture.
15. "They should serve other gods, wood and stone,"
ver. 36 ; and again, ver. 64, " they should serve other gods,
which neither they nor their fathers had known, even wood and
stone." And is it not too common for the Jews in popish coun-
* See Basnase, b. 7, c. 13, § 14. 7 Basnage, b. 7, c. 10, 5 20, who cites
6 Mariana, b. 26, c. 6. Malt. Paris, p. Ill, et Polyd. Virgil. 1. 14
6 Josephua de Bell. Jud. I. 7, c. 8 ct 9. p. 248.
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
95
trios lo comply with the idolatrous worship of the church of
Rome, and to bow down to stocks and stones rather than their
effects should he seized and confiscated 1 Here again we must
cite the author, who hath most studied, and hath best written
their modern history, and whom we have had occasion to quote
several times in this discourse. 'The Spanish and Portugal
inquisitions,' 8 saith he, 'reduce them to the dilemma of being
either hypocrites or burnt. The number of these dissemblers is
very considerable ; and it ought not to be concluded, that there
are no Jews in Spain or Portugal, because they arc not known :
They are so much the more dangerous, for not only being very
numerous, but confounded with the ecclesiastics, and entering
into all ecclesiastical dignities.' In another 9 place he saith, 'The
most surprising thing is, that this religion spreads from genera-
tion to generation, and still subsists in the persons of dissemblers
in a remote posterity. In vain the great lords of Spain 1 make
alliances, change their names, and take ancient scutcheons ; they are
still known to be of Jewish race, and Jews themselves. The convents
of monks and nuns are full of them. Most of the canons, inquisitors,
and bishops proceed from this nation. This is enough to make the
people and clergy of this country tremble, since such sort oi
churchmen can only profane the sacraments, and want inten-
tion in consecrating the host they adore. In the mean thrift
Orobio, who relates the fact, knew these dissemblers. He was
one of them himself, and bent the knee before the sacrament.
Moreover, he brings proofs of his assertion, in maintaining, that
there are in the synagogue of Amsterdam, brothers and sisters
and near relations to good families of Spain and Portugal ; and
even Franciscan monks, Dominicans, and Jesuits, who come to
do penance, and make amends for the crime they have com-
mitted in dissembling.'
16. "They should become an astonishment, a proverb, and a
by-word among all nations," ver. 37. And do we not hear and
see this prophecy fulfilled almost every day 1 is not the avarice,
usury, and hard-heartedncss of a Jew grown proverbial? and are
not their persons generally odious among all sorts of people 1
Mahommedans, Heathens, and Christians, however they may
disagree in other points, yet generally agree in vilifying, abusing,
and persecuting the Jews. In most places where they are tole-
rated, they are obliged to live in a separate quarter by themselves,
(as they did here in the Old Jewry,) and to wear some badge
of distinction. Their very countenances commonly distinguish
them from the rest of mankind. They are in all respects treated
as if they were of another species. And when a great master
of nature would draw the portrait of a Jew, how detestable
» Basnaae, b. 7, c. 33, § 14. » B. 7, c. 21, § 26.
Limborch Collat. cutn. Jud. p. 102.
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96 BISHOP NEWTON
a character hath he represented ill the person of his Jem oj
Vav< e !
17. Finally "their plngp.es should be wonderful, even great
plntnie ;:: •.! of long conJ iiiuanc 1 ," vcr. 59. And have not, thei' -
plague- 1 'issued now these 1700 years? Their former captivities
Were very short in comparison; and 2 E/.ckiel and Daniel pro-
phesied in (he land of the Chahla aus : hut now they have no
true prophet to foretel an end of (heir calamities, they have only
false Messiahs to delude them and aggravate their misfortunes.
In their former captivities they hat! the comfort of being conveyed
to the same place; they dwelt together in the land of Goshen,
they were carried together to Babylon ; but now they are dis-
persed all over the face of the earth. What nation hath suffered
so much, and yet endured so long 1 what nation hath subsisted
as a distinct people in their own country, so long as these have
done in their dispersion into all countries? and what a standing
miracle is this exhibited to the view and observation of the whole
world ]
Here arc instances of prophecies, prophecies delivered above
three thousand y^ears ago, and yet as we see fulfilling in the
world at this very time : and what stronger proofs can we desire
of the divine legation of Moses 1 How these instances may
affect others, I know not; but for myself I must acknowledge,
they not only convince, but amaze and astonish me beyond
expression. They are truly, as Moses foretold they would be,
" a sign and a wonder for ever," ver. 45, 46. " Moreover all
these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee and
overtake thee, till thou be destroyed ; because thou hearkened st
not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his command-
ments, and his statutes which he commanded thee : and they
shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy
seed for ever."
VIII. PROPHECIES OP OTHER PROPHETS CONCERNING
THE JEWS.
"OESIDES the prophecies of Moses, there are others of other
-O prophets, relative to the present state and condition of the
Jews. Such are those particularly concerning the restoration of
the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin from captivity, and the
dissolution of the ten tribes of Israel ; and those concerning the
preservation of the Jews, and the destruction of their enemies ;
and those concerning the desolation of Judea ; and those
•oncerning the infidelity and reprobation of the Jews ; and
* See Basnage, b. 6, c. 1, § 2.
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those concerning llic calling' and obedience of ihc Gentiles. And
U may he proper to say something- upon each of those topics.
I. It. was foretold, that the ten tribes of Israel should he
carried captiva by the kings of Assyria; and that the two re-
maining (lilies of Judith anil Benjamin should he carried captive
by the, king of Babylon : hut with this dilierence, that the two
tribes should be restored and return from their captivity, but
the, ten tribes should be dissolved and lost in theirs. Nay not
only the captivity and restoration of (he two tribes were fore-
told, but (he precise time of their captivity and restoration was
also prefixed and determined by tlie prophet Jeremiah, (xxv. 11 :)
"This whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment;
and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy
years:" and again, (xxix. 10,) "Thus sailh the Lord, that after
seventy years be accomplished at Babylon, I will visit you, and
perform my good word towards you, in causing you to return to
this place." This prophecy was first, delivered, (Jer. xxv. 1,)
"in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah king of
■Tudah, that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Ba-
bylon." And this 'same year it began to he put in execution;
for Nebuchadnezzar invaded Judea, besieged and took Jeru-
salem, made Jehoiakim his subject and tributary, transported
ihc finest children of the royal family and of the nobility to
Babylon, to be bred up there for eunuchs and slaves in his pa-
lace, and also carried away the vessels of the house of the Lord,
and put. them in the temple of his god at Babylon. Seventy
years from this time will bring us down to the first year of
Cyrus, (2 Chron. xxxvi. 22, Ezra i. 1,) when he made his pro-
clamation for the restoration of the Jews, and for the rebuilding
of the temple at Jerusalem. This computation of the seventy
years' captivity appears to be the truest, and most agreeable to
Scripture. Bat if you fix the commencement of these seventy-
years at the time when Jerusalem was burned and destroyed,
their 2 conclusion will fall about the time when Darius issued his
decree for rebuilding the temple, after the work had been stopped
and suspended. Or if you fix their commencement at the time
when Nebuzaradan carried away the last remainder of the peo-
pel, and completed the desolation of the land, their 'conclusion
will fall about the time when the temple was finished and dedi-
cated, and the first passover was solemnized in it. ' So that.,'
as Dean Prideaux says, 'taking it which way you will, and at
what stage you please, the, prophecy of Jeremiah will be fully
and exactly accomplished concerning this matter.' It may be
said to have been accomplished at three different times, and in
1 See Usher, Prideaux, and the Commen- 5 Prideaui Connect. Part. i. b. 3, Anno
tators on 2 Kings xxiv. 2 Chron. xxxiv. and 518, Darius 4.
Dan. i. * Prideaux ibid. Anno 515, Darius 7.
9 N
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9S BISHOP NEWTON
three different manners, and therefore possibly all might have
been intended, though the first without doubt was the principal
object of tlio prophecy. .
Hut the case was different with the ten tribes of Israel. It 13
verv well known that Ephrnim being the chief of the ten tribes
is often put for nil the ten tribes of Israel; and it was predicted
hv Isaiah, (vii. 8,) "Within threescore and five years shall
Ephraim he broken, that it he not a people." This prophecy
was delivered in lite first year of Ahaz king of Judah: for in
1 be latter end of his father Jotham's reign, (2 Kings xv. 37,)
Rezin king of Syria and Pekah king of Israel began their expe-
dition against Judah. They went up towards Jerusalem to war
against it in the beginning of the reign of Ahaz ; and it was
to comfort him and the house of David in these difficulties
and distresses, that the prophet Isaiah was commissioned to
assure him, that the kings of Syria and Israel should remain
only the heads of their respective cities, they should not prevail
against Jerusalem, and within sixty and five years Israel should
be so broken as to be no more a people. The learned 1 Vitringa
is of opinion, that the text is corrupted, and that instead of
sixty and five, it was originally written sixteen w and
five. Sixteen and five, as he confesseth, is an odd way of com-
putation for one and twenty; but it designs perfectly the years
of Ahaz and Hezekiah. For Ahaz reigned sixteen years, and
Hezekiah jive years alone, having reigned one year jointly with
his father : and it was "in the sixth year of Hezekiah," (2 Kings
xviii. 10, 11,) that "Shabnaneser took Samaria, and carried
away Israel unto Assyria." Then indeed the kingdom of Israel
was broken : and the conjecture of Vitringa would appear
much more probable, if it could be proved that it had ever
been usual to write the numbers or dates of years partly in
words at length and partly in numeral letters. But without
recourse to such an expedient the thing may be explicated
otherwise. For from the first of Ahaz 5 compute sixty and
five years in the reigns of Ahaz, Hezekiah, and Manasseh, the
end of them will fall about the twenty-second year of Manas-
seh, when Esarhaddon king of Assyria made the last depor-
tation of the Israelites, and planted other nations in their stead;
and in the same expedition probably took Manasseh captive,
(2 Chron. xxxiii. 11,) and carried him to Babylon. It is
said expressly that it was Esarhaddon who planted the other
nations in the cities of Samaria : but it is not said expressly in
Scripture, that he carried away the remainder of the people,
but it may be inferred from several circumstances of the story.
There were other deportations of the Israelites made by the
<ings of Assyria before this time. In the reign of Ahaz, Tig-
4 Comment, in locum. 5 Sec Usher Prideaux, &c.
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lath-pile/,cr look many of tli<> Israelites, "even (ho Roubenites,
and the (indites. and the half tribe of .Manasseh, and all the
hind of .\aphtali, and carried (hem captive Id Assyria, and
brought (hem unto Halah, and I labor, and llara, and to the
river (Jo/.an," (1 Chmn. v. 2(j ; 2 Kings xv. 29.) I lis son Shal-
nianeser, in the reign of ile/.ekiah, took Samaria, and carried
away still greater numhers "unto Assyria, and |iul them in
Hula h and in 1 labor by the river of Go/.an, (the same places whi-
ther their brethren had been carried before them,) and in the.
cities of the Modes," (2 Kings xviii. 11.) His sun Sennacherib
came up also against Hezekiah, and all the fenced cities of
Judab ; but his army was miraculously defeated, and he himself
was forced to return with shame and disgrace into his own
country, where he was murdered by two of bis sons, (2 Kings
xviii. 19.) Another of his sons, Esarhaddon, succeeded him in
the throne, but it was some time before he could recover his
kingdom from these disorders, and think of reducing Syria and
Palestine again to bis obedience : and then it was, and not till
then, that he completed the ruin of the ten tribes, carried away
the remains of the people, and, to prevent the land from becom-
ing desolate, "brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah,
and from Hava, and from Ilamath, and from Sepha.rvaim, and
placed (hem in the cities of Samaria, instead of the children of
Israel," (Ezra iv. 2, 10 ; 2 Kings xvii. 24.) Ephraim was broken
from being a kingdom before, but now he was broken from
being a people. And from that time to this what account can
be given of the people of Israel as distinct from the people of
Judab 1 where have they subsisted all this while % and where is
their situation, or what, is their condition at present 1
We see plainly that they were placed in Assyria and Media ;
and if they subsisted any where, one would imagine they might
be found there in the greatest .abundance. But authors have
generally sought for them elsewhere : and the visionary writer
of the second hook of Esdras, (xiii. 40, &c.) hath ass^ted that,
they took a resolution of retiring from the Gentiles, and of
going into a country which had never been inhabited ; that
the river Euphrates was miraculously divided for their passage,
and they proceeded in their journey a year and a half, before
t hey arrived at this country, which was called Arsareth. But
the worst of it is, as this country was unknown before, so it
hath been equally unknown ever since. It is to be found no
where but in this apocryphal book, which is so wild and fabu-
lous in other respects, that it deserves no credit in this parti-
cular. Benjamin of Tudela, a Jew of the twelfth century, 6 hath
likewise assigned them a large and spacious country with fine
cities; but nobody knoweth to this day where it is situated.
* For these particulars the reader may consilt Basnage's Hist, of Jews, b. 6, c. 2, 3
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BISHOP NEWTON
Eldad, another Jew of the thirteenth century, bath placed then?
in Ethiopia and I know not where, and haih made the Sara-
cens and twenty-five kingdoms tributary to them. Another
Jewish writer, Pcritful of Feirara, who lived in the century
before the hist, hath given them kingdoms in a country called
Pcrrielnt, enclosed by unknown mountains, and bounded by
Assyria, and likewise in the deserts of Arabia, and even in the
East Indies. Manasseh, a famous rabbi of the last century,
and others, have asserted, that they passed into Tavtary, and
expelled the Scythians ; and others again from Tartary have
conveyed them into America. Hut all these differing accounts
prove nothing but the great uncertainty that, there is in this
matter. The best of (hem are only conjectures without any
solid foundation, but most of them are manifest forgeries of the
Jews to aggrandize their nation.
The diilicully of finding out the habitations of the ten tribes
hath induced 'others to maintain, that they returned into their
own country with the other two tribes after the Babylonish
captivity. The decree indeed of Cyrus extended to " all the
people of God," (Ezra i. 3,) and that of Artaxerxes to "all the
people of Israel," (vii. 13 ;) and no doubt many of the Israelites
look advantage of these decrees, and returned with Zerubbabcl
and Ezra to their own cities : but still the main body of the ten
tribes remained behind. Ezra, who should best know, saith
that, there "rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Ben-
jamin," (i. 5,) and he calleth the Samaritans "the adversaries of
Judah and Benjamin," (iv. 1 ;) these two tribes were the princi-
pals, the others were oniy as accessaries. And if they did not
return at this time, they cannot be supposed to have returned
in a body at any time after this : for we read of no such adven-
ture in history, we know neither the time nor occasion of then-
return, nor who were their generals or leaders in this expedi-
tion. Josephus, who saw his country for several years in as
flourishing a condition ?s at any time since the captivity, affirms
that 8 Ezra sent a copy of the decree of Artaxerxes to all of the
' See Calmet's two Dissertations, 1st.
Sur le pays ou les dix tribus d'Israet fnrent
transportces, et sur celui oil elles sont au-
jourdhui. Comment, vol. 3. 2d. Ou ton
examine si lea dix tribus sont revenues de
leur captivite, dans la terre d'Israel. Com-
ment, vol. 6.
' To iT avrtypaQov alrijs napd Tiivras sVr/i-
ipt roiff bfioityvcls rovs Kara Tt/v Mrjoiav oVraj.
iroWot i' airStVj Kal rdf KTt'/oeis <iva\a-
Guvtis, ^ASov cU BaStAwva, iroSouvTcs ri\v £tff
Ta 'hf-oo6\vfia KaBobov. 'O bi way Aads tG>v
\aparj\iTuv Kara X&pav ejitivc. Aid Kal Ho
QvAu; tival avp&ibTiKtv int T£ ri/y 'Aff/af Kal
AUvtNTIST
HERITAGE CENTEH
ri)$ £t'f>i57r>K, '^uualoti v-naKovovaas. At b}
ctKa 0uAui ntpav eioiv Eu^fla'rou ZitoS beTipo,
uvpiddcs aireifioi, Kai apiSu'J) yvuoSrjvat
cvvdutvai. Exemplar vero ejus in Mcdiam
ad onirics gentis sua; homines misit. — Multi
vcro ex Us jvm re sua familiari Babylonem se
conlulerunt, ut qui liierosolyma revertendi
desiderio tench antur. Omnis avlem multitude
Jsraelitarum in ea regione mansit. Quaprop-
ter duo; tantum tribus per Asiam aique Euro-
pam sub Romano deguni imperio. Decern
aulem re.liqucc tribus usque in hodiernum diem
loca ultra Euphratem colunt, infinita homi-
nam miltia, nec numero comprekendenda
Antiqu. I. 11, c. 5, § 2.
Jtmu White Library
MOREWS UNIVERSITY
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101
Mime nation throughout Media, where (lie ten tribes lived in
captivity, and many of I hem came, with their effects to Babylon,
desiring to return to Jerusalem: hut (lie main body of the Is-
raelites abode in that region: and therefore it bath happened,
saith be, that there arc two tribes in Asia and Europe, living in
subjection to the, Romans; but the ten tribes are, beyond the
Euphrates to this time; and then addelb, with the vanity of
a .lew speaking of his countrymen, that they were so many
myriads, that they could not be numbered.
Others, finding no good authority for admitting that the ten
(lilies of Israel were restored in the same manner as the two
tribes of Judah and Benjamin, 3 have therefore asserted, that
'the ten tribes of Israel, which had separated from the bouse
of David, were brought to a full and utter destruction, and
never after recovered themselves again. For those who were
thus carried away, (excepting only some few, who joining them-
selves to the Jews in the land of their captivity returned with
them,) soon going into the usages and idolatry of the nations,
among whom they were planted, (to which they were too much
addicted while in their own land,) after a while became wholly
absorbed, and swallowed up in them, and thence utterly losing
their name, their language, and their memorial, were never after
any more spoken of.' But if the whole race of Israel became
thus extinct, and perished for ever, how can the numerous
prophecies be fulfilled, which promise the future conversion and
restoration of Israe* as well as of Judah ?
The truth I conceive to lie between these two opinions. Neither
did they all return to Jerusalem, neither did all, who remained
behind, comply with the idolatry of the Gentiles, among whom
they lived. But whether they remained, or whether they returned,
this prophecy of Isaiah was still fulfilled ; the kingdom, the com-
monwealth, the state of Israel was utterly broken ; they no longer
subsisted as a distinct people from Judah, they no longer main-
tained a separate religion, they joined themselves to the Jews
from whom they had been unhappily divided, they lost the name
of Israel as a name of distinction, and were thenceforth all in
common called Jews. It appears from the book of Esther, that
there were great numbers of Jews in all the hundred twenty and
seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus or Artaxerxes Lon-
gimanus king of Persia, and they could not all be the remains
of the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, who had refused to
return to Jerusalem with thlir brethren; they must many of
them have been the descendants of the ten tribes whom the
kings of Assyria had carried away captive ; but yet they are
all spoken of as one and the same people, and all wi thout dis-
tinction are denominated Jews. We read in the Acts of the
' Prideaux Connect, part 1, b.l. Anno 677. Manasseh 22.
9*
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BISHOP NEWTON
Apostles, (ii. 0,) lliat there came lo Jerusalem to celebrate the
least of Pentecost "Parthians, and Medes, and Elainites, and
(lie dwellers in Mesopotamia:" tlieso men came from (lie coun-
tries when-ill the (en Irihes had heen placed, and in all proba-
l*i I it v therefore were some of their posterity; but yet these as
v. ill as the rest, arc styled, (ver. 5,) "Jews, devout men, out ol
e\ erv nation under heaven." Those likewise of the ten tribes,
who returned to Jerusalem, united with the two Irihes of
Judith and Benjamin, and formed but one nation, one body of
Jews ; (hey might for some ages perhaps preserve I heir ge-
nealogies; hut I hey are now incorporated together, and the dis-
tinction of tribes and families is in great measure lost among
them, and they have alt from the Babylonish captivity to this
day been comprehended under the general name of Jews.
In St. Paul's time there were several persons of all the ten
iribes in being; for he speakolh of " the twelve tribes hoping
to attain to the promise of God," (Acts x.vvi. 7;) and St. James
addresseth his epistle "to the twelve tribes which are scat-
tered abroad," (James i. t.) And we make no question, that
several persons of all the ten tribes are in being at present,
though we cannot separate them from the rest ; they are con-
founded with tire other Jews ; there is no difference, no dis-
tinction between them. The 'Samaritans indeed (of whom
there are still some remains at Sichem and the neighbouring
tow ns) pretend to be the descendants of the children of Israel,
but (hey are really derived from those nations, which Esar-
haddon king of Assyria planted in the country, after he had
carried thence the ten tribes into captivity. And for this rea-
son the Jews call them by no other name than Cuthites, (the
name of one of those nations,) and exclaim against them as the
worst of heretics, and if possible have greater hatred and abhor-
rence of them than of the Christians themselves.
Thus we see how the ten tribes of Israel were in a manner
lost in their captivity, while the two tribes of Judah and Ben-
jamin were restored and preserved several ages afterwards.
And what, can you believe, were the reasons of God's making
this difference and distinction between them? The ten tribes
had totally revolted from God to the worship of the golden
calves in Dan and Bethel ; and for this, and their oilier idola-
try and wickedness, they were suffered to remain in the land of
their captivity. The Jews were restored, not so much for their
own sakes, as for the sake of the promises made unto the fa-
thers, the promise to Judah that the Messiah should come of
his tribe, the promise to David that the Messiah should be
born of his family. It was therefore necessary for the tribe of
• udah, and the families of that tribe, to be kept distinct until
1 See Pndeau* as before.
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the coming- of l!ie Messiah. But now these ends are full}- an-
swered, (lie tribes of Judah and Benjamin are ns much con-
founded as any of the rest: all distinction of families and ge-
nealogies is lost among them: and the 2 Jews themselves ac-
knowledge as much in saying, that when the Messiah shall
come, it will he part of his oiliee ' to sort their families, restore
the genealogies, and set aside strangers.'
II. The preservation of the Jews through so many age?, and
the total destruction of their enemies, are wonderful events;
and are made still more wonderful hy being signified before-
hand by the spirit of prophecy, as we find particularly in the
prophet Jeremiah, (xlvi. 28:) "Fear not thou, O Jacob my ser-
vant, saith the Lord ; for I am with thee, for I will make a full
end of all the nations whither I have driven thee, but I will
not make a full end of thee."
The preservation of the Jews is really one of the most signal
and illustrious acts of divine providence. They are dispersed
among all nations, and yet they are not confounded with any.
The drops of rain which fall, nay, the great rivers which How
into the ocean, arc soon mingled and lost in that immense body
of waters: and the same in all human probability would have
been the fate of the Jews, they would have been mingled and
lost in the common mass of mankind ; but on the contrary they
flow iuto all parts of the world, mix with all nations, and yet.
keep separate from all. They still live as a distinct people,
and yet they no where live according to their own laws, no
where elect their own magistrates, no where enjoy the full ex-
ercise of their religion. Their solemn feasts and sacrifices are
limited to one certain place, and that hath been now for many
ages in the hands of strangers and aliens, who will not suffer
them to come thither. No people have continued unmixed so
long as they have done, not only of those who have sent forth
colonies into foreign countries, but even of those who have abided
in their own country. The northern nations have come in
swarms into the more southern parts of Europe ; but where are
they now to be discerned and distinguished ] The Gauls went
forth in great bodies to seek their fortune in foreign parts ; but
what traces or footsteps of them are now remaining any where 1
In France who can separate the race of the ancient Gauls from
the various other people, who from time to time have settled
there 1 In Spain who can distinguish exactly between the first
possessors the Spaniards, and the Goths, and the Moors, who
conquered and kept possession of the country for some ages ]
In England who can pretend to say with certainty which fa-
milies are derived from the ancient Britons, and which from
•he Romans, or Saxons, or Danes, or Normans 1 The most an-
3 Sec Bishop Chandler's Defence of Christianity, c. 1, § 2, p. 38, 3d Edit
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BISHOP NEWTON
cient and 1 101 1< >; n :i I >■ »■ pedigrees can lie (inccil up only to a cer-
tain period, ami beyond iliat. tin- re is nothing but conjecture
and unccitaim v, obscurity and ignorance: hut die. Jews can
go up higher llum any nation, (hey can even deduce their pedi-
gree from ihe beginning of (lie world. Tliey may not know
from what particular "tiihe or family limy arc descended, but
lhe\ know certainly that they all sprung from the slock of
Abraham. And yet (he- contempt with which limy have been
lieaied, and the hardships which limy liave undergone in al-
most all countries, should one would think have made them
desirous to Ionic t or renounce their original ; but ( I icy profess
it, they glory in it : and after so many wars, massacres, and
persecutions, they still subsist, they still are very numerous:
and w hat bul a supernatural power could have preserved them
in such a maimer as none other nation upon earth hath been
preserved ?
Nor is the providence of God less remarkable in the desl rue-
lion of (heir enemies, than in their preservation. For from the
beginning who have been tiie great enemies and oppressors of
the Jewish nation, removed them from their own land, and com-
pelled them into captivity and slavery 1 The Egyptians afflicted
them much, and detained them in bondage several years. The
Assyrians carried away captive the ten tribes of Israel, and (he
Babylonians afterwards ihe two remaining tribes of Judah and
Benjamin. The Syro-Macedonians, especially Antiochus Epi-
phanes, cruelly persecuted them: and the Romans utterly dis-
solved the Jewish slate, and dispersed the people so that they
have never been able to recover their city and country again.
But where are now these great and famous monarchies, which
in their turns subdued and oppressed the people of God 1 Are
they not vanished as a dream, and not only their power, but
their very names lost in the earth 1 ? The Egyptians, Assyrians,
and Babylonians were overthrown, and entirely subjugated by
the Persians: and the Persians (it is remarkable) were the
restorers of the Jews, as well as the destroyers of their enemies.
The Syro-Macedonians were swallowed up by r (he Romans:
and the Roman empire, great and powerful as it was, was
broken into pieces by the incursions of the northern nations;
while the Jews arc subsisting as a distinct people at this day.
And what a wonder of providence is it, that (he vanquished
should so many ages survive the victors, and the former be
spread all over the world, while the lalter are no morel
Nay not only nations have been punished for their cruelties
to the Jews, hut divine vengeance hath pursued even single
persons, who have been their persecutors and oppressors. The
first-born of Pharaoh was destroyed, and lie himself with his
host was drowned in the sea. Most of those who oppressed
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105
Israel in the, days of tlio Judges, Eglon, Jabin mid Si-era, Orcb
iind Zeeb, and tin; rest, came. In an untimely cud. Nebuchad-
nezzar was sf lie k> 'i i with madness, and the crown was soon trans,
frrrcd from liis family to strangers. Anliochus Epiphanes 3 died
in ureal, agonies, with ulcers, and vermin i<suir<r from them, so
I ha I 1 1 ii' lil I hiness of his smell was intolerable In all liis a I tendants,
and even to himsell'. Herod, who was a cruel tyrant, to the
.lews,' died in the same miserable manner. Flaccus, governor
of Egypt, who barbarously plundered and oppressed I lie Jews
of Alexandria, 5 was afterwards banished rind slain. Caligula,
who persecuted the Jews for refusing- to pay divine honours to
his slalues, 6 was murdered in the (lower of liis age, after a short
and wicked reign. But where are now, since lliey ha\e abso-
lutely rejected the gospel, and been no longer tin: peculiar
people of God, where are, now such visible manifest at ions of a
divine interposition in their favour] The Jews would do well
to consider this point ; for rightly considered, it may be an
effectual means of opening' their eyes, and of turning them to
Christ our Saviour.
III. The desolation of Judea is another memorable instance
of lb' 1 , Iruih of prophecy. It. was foretold so long ago as by
Moses, (Levil. xxvi. .'3:3:) " I will scatter vou among ihe heathen,
and will draw out a sword after you ; and j our laud shall be de-
solate, and your cities waste." It was foretold again by Isaiah,
the prophet speaking, as prophets often do, of things future as
present, (i. 7, 8 :) " Your country is desolate, your cities are burnt
with fire ; your land, strangers devour it in y r our presence, and
it is desolate as overthrown by strangers. And the daughter of
Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden
of cucumbers, as a besieged city." This passage may relate
immediately to the times of Ahaz and Hezekiah ; but it must
have a farther reference to the devastations made by the Chal-
deans, and especially by the Romans. In this sense it is un-
derstood by 'Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Jerome, and most an-
cient interpreters: and the following words imply no less than
a general destruction, and almost total excision of the people,
such as they suffered under the Chalda-ans, but more fully under
the Romans, (ver. 9 :) " Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us
a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we
should have beenlike unto Gomorrah." The same thing was again
foretold by Jeremiah; for speaking afterwards of the conver-
sion of the Gentiles, and of the restoration of the Jews in the
» 2Mw.ij.S. Polvh. Frasr. l.Sl.c. 11.
' Joseph. Alltiq. 1. 17, c. 6, § 5. De Bell.
Jud. 1. 1, r. 33, § 5.
* Philo .Tii.iaMis in Flaecm, ail fin.
6 Philo (It; Le^atione act Caium. Joseph.
Antiq. 1. IS c. 9; 1. 19, c. 1. Suetonii Calig.
o. 59. "Visit annis xxx. imperavit trminio,
et x. mensihus, diehusipie vm."
' Just. Marl. Apol. lma, p. 70, Edit.
Thirlb. Dial, cum Tivphom-, p. I til), el 243.
Tertull. advers. Mareiun. !. 3, e. 23, et altb,
Hieron. in locum.
0
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i:iSII()L' NEWTON
lnlli'i' days, lie must bo understood lo speak here of the times
ni't-rcdinu', (\ii. 10, 11:) "Many pastors (princes or leaders)
have de--lru\id iny vineyard, lln-y have Hodden my portion
under loo!, lliey have made my pleasant portion a desolate wil-
derness; they have made it desolate, anil being desolate if,
inniirnei li unlo me ; llie wliole land is made desolate, because
mi ma ii la yeth it lo heart."
The same thing is expressed or implied in oilier places : and
lialli nnl (lie stale ol Judea now fur many ages been exa.clly
answeialile In Ibis description '{ Thai a count ry should he de-
popiilaled and desolated by the. incursions and depredations of
foreign armies is nothing wonderful; but that il should lie so
iiimiy !i!(i'S in ibis miserable condition is more than man could
foresee, and could be revealed only by («od. A celebrated
French writer, "in his History of the Crusades, pretends lo ex-
hibit a. true picture of Palestine, and he says (hat ihen 'it was
just what il. is at present, the. worst of all the inhabited coun-
tries of Asia.. It is almost, w ho! iy covered with parched rocks,
on which there is not, one line, of soil. If this small territory
were cultivated, it might not improperly be compared to Swit-
zerland.' Put there is no need of citing authorities (o prove that
the land is forsaken of its inhabitants, is uncultivated, unfruit-
ful, and desolale; for the enemies of our religion make this
very thing an objection to the Irulh of our religion. They say
that so barren and wretched a country could never ha \e been
a landjl/ming with milk tend liimcy, nor have, supplied and main-
tained such multitudes, as it is represented to have done ir
Scripture. Hut ihey do not see or consider, that hereby the
prophecies are fulfilled ; so that it, is rather an evidence for the
Irulh of our religion, (ban any argument against it.
The country was formerly a good country, if we may believe
the concurrent testimony of those who should best know it,
the people who inhabited it. Aristeas and Joseph us loo 9 speak
largely in commendat ion of its fruit fulness : and t hough some-
thing may be allowed to national prejudices, yet they would
hardly have had the confidence to assert, a thing, which all the
world would easily contradict and disprove. Nay there are
even heathen authors who bear testimony to the fruit fulness of
the land: though we presume, that after the Babylonish cap-
tivity it, never recovered lo be again what it was before. Strabo 1
describes indeed the country about Jerusalem as rocky and
barren, but he commends other parts, particularly about Jordan
and Jericho. HecataHis 2 quoted by Josephus giveth it the cha-
" Voltaire's Hist, not far from the \><-«m- ' filralio, 1. Ifi, p. 1104. 1095, 1106,
nirif;. 2 Joseph, contra Apiun, 1. 1, i)
Aristeas, p. 13,14. Edit. Ilody. Joseph. Ti/s unicmn Krii Tra/K/xjpuirari/s^wpuj. — Opti
de Bell. Jud. I. 8, c. 3. nacljirrticissivtisotu
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racter of one of the best and most fertile countries. Tacitus 3
sn.it h, that it raincl.li seldom, the soil is fruitful, fruits abound as
with us, and besides them the balsam and palm trees. And
notwithstanding the long desolation of the laud, there are still
visible such marks and tokens of iruil fulness, as may convince
any man that it once deserved the character which is given
of it in Scripture. I would only refer the reader to two learned
and ingenious travellers of our own nation, Mr. Manndrull and
Dr. Shaw ; and he will fully be satisfied of the truth of what, is
here asserted.
The 4 former says, that 'all along this day's travel, (Mar. 25,)
from Kane Leban to Beer, and also as far as we could see around,
the country discovered a quite different face from what it had
before; presenting nothing to the view in most place?, but
naked rocks, mountains, and precipices. At sight of which,
pilgrims are apt to be much astonished and baulked in their
expectations; finding that country in such an inhospitable
condition, concerning whose pleasantness and plenty they had
before formed in their minds such high ideas from the descrip-
tion given of it, in the word of God: insomuch that it almost
startles their faith, when they reflect, how it could be possible
for a land like this to supply food for so prodigious a number
of inhabitants, as are said to have been polled in the twelve
tribes at one time; the sum given in by Joab, (2 Sam. xxiv.)
amounting to no less than thirteen hundred thousand fighting
men, besides women and children. But it is certain that any
man, who is not a little biassed to infidelity before, may see, as
he passes along, arguments enough to support his faith against
such scruples. For it is obvious for any one to observe, that
these rocks and hills must have been anciently covered with
earth, and cultivated, and made to contribute to the mainte-
nance of the inhabitants, no less than if the country had been
all plain: nay, perhaps much more; forasmuch as such a
mountainous and uneven surface affords a larger space of ground
for cultivation, than this country would amount to, if it were
all reduced to a perfect level. For the husbanding of these
mountains, their manner was to gather up the stones, and place
them in several lines, along the sides of the hills, in form of
a wall. By such borders they supported the mould from tumbling
or being washed down ; and formed many beds of excellent
soil, rising gradually one above another, from the bottom to
the top of the mountains. Of this form of culture you see evi-
dent footsteps, wherever you go in all the mountains of Pales-
tine. Thus the very rocks were made fruitful. And perhaps
there is no spot of ground in this whole land, that was not for-
3 Taciti Hist. 1. 5, c. 6 : ' Ran imbres, uber praeterquc eas, balsamnm et palma}.'
solum, exuberant fruges nostrum ad morem, 4 Maundrell, p. 64, &e. 5th Edit.
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BISHOP NEWTON
merly improved, to the production of something or other, mi-
nisterial; to 1 lie sustenance of human life. For than the plain
countries nothing can be more fruit fid, whether for the produc-
tion of coin or cattle, and consequently of milk. The hills,
though improper for all cattle except goats, yet being disposed
into such beds as are before described, served very well to bear
corn, melons, gourds, cucumbers, and such like garden stulf,
which makes the principal food of these countries for several
months in the year. The most rocky parts of all, which could
not well he adjusted in that manner for the production of corn,
might, yet serve for the plantation of vines and olive frees ;
which delight to extract, the one its fatness, the other its
sprightly juice, chiefly out of such dry and flinty places. And
the great plain joining to the Dead Sea, which by reason of its
saltness might be thought unserviceable both for cattle, corn,
olives, and vines, had yet its proper usefulness for the nourish-
ment of bees, and for the fabric of honey; of which Josephns
gives us his testimony, De Bell. Jud. 1. 5, c. 4. And I have
reason to believe it, because when I was there, I perceived in
many places a smell of honey and wax, as strong as if one had
been in an apiary. Why then might not this country very well
maintain the vast number of its inhabitants, being in every part,
so productive of either milk, corn, wine, oil, or honey, which
are the principal food of these eastern nations? the constitu-
tion of their bodies, and the nature of their clime, inclining
them to a more abstemious diet than we use in England, and
other colder regions.'
The 5 other asserts, that 'the Holy Land, were it as well peo-
pled and cultivated as in former time, would still be more fruit-
ful than the very best, part of the coast of Syria and Phoenicia.
For the soil itself is generally much richer, and all things con-
sidered, yields a more preferable crop. Thus the cotton that is
gathered in the plains of Ramah, Esdraelon, and Zebulun, is in
greater esteem than what is cultivated near Sidon and Tripoli ;
neither is it possible for pulse, wheat, or any sort of grain, to be-
more excellent than what is commonly sold at Jerusalem. The
barrenness or scarcity rather, which some authors may either
ignorantly or maliciously complain of, does not proceed from
the incapacity or natural unfruitfulness of the country, but.
from the want of inhabitants, and the great aversion there is
to labour and industry in those few who possess it. There are
besides such perpetual discords and depredations among the
petty princes, who share this fine country, that allowing it was
better peopled, yet there would be small encouragement to sow,
when it was uncertain who should gather in the harvest. Other-
wise the land is gond land, and still capable of affording its neigh-
& Shaw's Travels, p. 365, &c.
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hours (ho like supplies of coin ami oil, which il is known lo have
done in the lime of Solomon. The pail- pai I ii nlarl v ahonl . J i ■ i" n -
saleni, heinir described lo he rock\ anil i : khhi I ;i ii kiu.-:, have heen
I hereiore supposed to he barren anil unfruitful. \ el gra ill ing I his
conclusion, which is Car from being just, a kingdom is not lo he
(leiioiuinalcd harreu or unfruitful from one pari of ii only, hut.
from the whole. Nay, farther, the blessing thai w as given lo Ju-
dith, was not. of the same kind with (lie blessing of A-her or of
Issachar, that "his hread should he fat," or "his land should he
pleasant," hut, that, "his eyes should be red with wine, and his
leeth should he white with milk." Gen. xlix. 12. Muses also
makeih milk and honey (the chief dainties and subsistence of
the earlier ages, as they continue to he of the Bedowcen Arabs)
to he 6 " the glory of all lands:" all which productions are
either actually enjoyed, or at least might be, by proper care
and application. The plenty of wine alone is wanting at pre-
sent ; yet from the goodness of that little, which is still made
at Jerusalem and Hebron, we find that these barren rocks (as
ihey are called) might yield a much greater quantity, if the
abstemious Turk and Arab would permit a further increase and
improvement to be made of the vine, &.(•„'
IV. Nothing can be a stronger or clearer proof of the divine
inspiration of the prophets, than their foretelling not only the
outward actions, but even the inward dispositions of men, many-
ages before those men were in being. The prophets were na-
turally prejudiced in favour of their own nation ; but yet they
foretell the infidelity and reprobation of the Jews, their disbe-
lief of the Messiah, and thereupon their rejection by God.
We will not multiply quotations to this purpose. It will be
sufficient to produce one or two passages from the evangelical
prophet Isaiah. The 53d chapter is a most famous prophecy
of the Messiah ; and it begins with upbraiding the Jews for
their unbelief, "Who hath believed our report] and to whom
is the arm of the Lord revealed ]" which St. John, (xii 38,) and
St. Paul, (Rom. x. 16,) have expressly applied to the unbeliev-
ing Jews of their time. The prophet assigns the reason too,
why they would not receive the Messiah, namely, because of
his low and afflicted condition : and it is very well known that
they rejected him on this account, having all along expected
him to come as a temporal prince and deliverer in great power
and glory.
The prophet had before been commissioned to declare unto
the people the judgments of God for their infidelity and dis-
« As Bishop Pearce observes, Is not this glory of all lands ; but the Zand, which dii
a mistake in Dr. Shaw ? The words are not abound with milk and honey t he lather calls
of Moses but of Ezekiel, (u. 6, 15,) and he the glory of all lands.
does not seem to call the milk and honey the
10
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BISHOP NEWTON
obedience, (vi. 9, 10:) "And he said, Go, and tell this people
(this people, not, my people,) Hear ye indeed, but understand not ;
and see ve indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this
people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes ; lest
they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and under-
stand with tlieir heart, and convert, and be healed." In the style
of Scripture the prophets are said to do what they deciare icill
be done : and in like manner Jeremiah is said, (i. 10,) to be "set.
over I lie nations, and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to
pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to
plant;" because he was authorised to make known the purposes
and decrees of God, and because these events would follow in
consequence of his prophecies. "Make the heart of this people
fat," is therefore as much as to say, Denounce my judgment upon
this people, that their heart shall be fat, and their ears heavy, and
there eyes shut; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their
ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
This prophecy might relate in some measure to the state of the
Jews before the Babylonish captivity ; but it did not receive its
full completion till the days of our Saviour ; and in this sense
it is understood and applied by the writers of the New Testa-
ment, and by our Saviour himself. The prophet is then in-
formed, that this infidelity and obstinacy of his countrymen
should be of long duration. "Then said I, Lord, how long 1 ?
And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabi-
tant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly de-
solate. And the Lord have removed men far away, and there
be a great forsaking in the midst of the land," (ver. 11.) Here
is a remarkable gradation in the denouncing of these judgments.
Not only Jerusalem and the cities should be least ed without inha-
bitant, but even the single houses should be without man ; and
not only the houses of the cities should be without man, but even
the country should be utterly desolate ; and not only the people
should be removed out of the land, but the Lord should remove
them far away; and they should not be removed for a short
period, but there should be a great or rather a long forsaking in
the midst of the land. And hath not the world seen all these
particulars exactly fulfilled 1 Have not the Jews laboured under
a spiritual blindness and infatuation in hearing but not under-
standing, in seeing but not perceiving the Messiah, after the ac-
complishment of so many prophecies, after the performance
of so many miracles'! And inconsequence of their refusing to
convert and be healed, have not their cities been wasted without,
inhabitant, and their houses without man? Hath not their land
been utterly desolate ? Have they not been removed far away into
the most distant parts of the earth? And hath not their re-
moval or banishment been now of near 1700 vears duration 1
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And do fhey not slill continue deaf and Itlind, obstinate mid un-
believing] Tlic .lows, iit the lime of I ! delivery of this pro-
phecy, idoricd in ln'in»' the peculiar church and people of God :
;iiid would any Jew of himself have thum-hl or have said, that
his nation would in process of lime, become an inlidcl and repro-
bate nation, inlidcl and reprobate, for so many u«es, oppressed hy
men, and forsaken hy God] It. was ahove 7.30 years heforo
Christ, that Isaiah predicted these things ; and hn\v could he
have predicted them, unless he had heen iiluininated hy tiie
divine vision ; or how could they have succeeded accordingly,
unless (he spirit of prophecy had heen the spirit, of God ]
V. Of the same nature arc the prophecies concerning the
calling and obedience of the Gentiles. How could such an
event he foreseen hundreds of years before it, happened ] but
the prophets are full of the glorious subject, and speak with
delight, and rapture of the universal kingdom of the Messiah;
that " God would give unto him the heathen for his inheritance,
and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession," (Psal.
ii. S ;) that " all the ends of the world should remember and
turn unto the Lord, and all the kindreds of the. nations should
worship before him," (Psal. xxii. 27;) that « in the last, days
the mountain of (he house of the Lord should be established in
the top of the mountains, and should be exalted above the hills,
and all people should flow unto it," (Micah iv. 1 ;) which pas-
sage is also to be found in Isaiah, (ii. 2,) that " from the rising
of the sun even unto the going down of the same, my name
shall be great among the Gentiles, and in every place incense
shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering ; for my name
shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts,"
(Mai. i. 2.) But the prophet Isaiah is more copious upon this as
well as other evangelical subjects : and his 49th and 60th chap-
ters treat particularly of the glory of the church in the abundant
access of the Gentiles. " It is a light thing that thou shouldst
be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the
preserved of Israel : I will also give thee for a light to the Gen-
tiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the
earth," '(xlix 6 ;) " Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the
glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. The Gentiles shall come
to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. The
abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of
the Gentiles shall come unto thee, &c." (lx. 1,3, 5, &c.)
It is as absurd as it is vain in the Jews to apply these prophe-
cies to the proselytes whom they have gained among the nations ;
for the number of their proselytes was very inconsiderable, and
nothing to answer these pompous descriptions. Neither was
their religion ever designed by its founder for an universal reli-
gion, their worship and sacrifices being confined to one certain
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BISHOP NEWTON
place, whither all I lie males were obliged lo repair thrice every
year; so dial it was plainly calculated for a, particular people,
and could never become the religion of ihe w hole world. There
was iiuleed to he a religion, which was designed for all na-
tions. io preached in all, and (o be received in rdl : but what
prosper! or probability was there, that such a generous institu-
tion should proceed front such it narrow-minded people as the
Jews, or that the Gentiles who hated and despised I hem should
ever receive a religion from them 1 Wits it not much more likely,
:!iat they should he corrupted by the example of all the nations
around I hem, and be induced to comply with the polytheism
and idolatry of some of their powerful neighbours find con-
querors, to which they were but too much inclined of them-
selves ; was not this, I say, much more likely than that they
should be the happy instrument of reforming the world, and
converting some of all nations lo the worship of the one only God
in spirit and in truth 1
But the prophet farther intimates, that this great revolution,
the greatest that ever was in the religious world, should be
effected by a few incompetent persons, and effected too in a short
compass of time. " A little one shall become a thousand, and
a small one a strong nation: I the Lord will hasten it in his
time," (lx. 22.) Our Saviour's commission to his apostles was
" Go, leach all nations :" and who were the persons to whom this
commission was given? those who were best qualified and able
to carry it. into execution? the rich, the wise, the mighty of this
world? No, they wore chiefly a few poor fishermen, of low pa-
rentage and education, of no learning or eloquence, of no policy
or address, of no repute or authority, despised as Jews by r the
rest of mankind, and as the meanest and worst of Jews by the
Jews themselves. And what improper persons were these to
contend with the prejudices of all the world, the superstitions of
the people, the interests of the priests, the vanity of philosophers,
the pride of rulers, the malice of the Jews, the learning of Greece,
and the power of Rome ?
As this revolution was effected by a few incompetent persons,
so was it effected too in a short compass of time. After our
Saviour's ascension " the number of disciples together was
ahout an hundred and twenty," (Acts i. 15:) but they soon
increased and multiplied ; the first sermon of St. Peter added
unto them "about three thousand souls," (ii. 41 :) and the se-
cond made up the number " about five thousand," (iv. 4.) Be-
fore the destruction of Jerusalem, in the space of about forty
years, the gospel was preached in almost every region of the
world then known : And in the region of Constantine, Chris-
tianity became the religion of the empire ; and after having
suffered a little under Julian, it entirely prevailed and triumphed
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over paganism nml idolatry ; and slill prevails in the most civi-
lize'! and improved parts of the earth. A I! I his was more than
man could foresee, and much more than man could execute :
and \vc experience the good effects of these prophecies at this
day. The speedy propagation of the gospel could not have been
ellecled hy persons so unequal to the task, if the same divine
Spirit, who fore loin it, had not likewise assisted them in it, ac-
cording to the promise, " I the Lord will hasten it in his time."
We may he as certain as if \vc had seen it, that the f rut Ii really
was, as the Evangelist affirms, (Mark xvi. 20:) "They went
forth and preached every where, the Lord working with them,
and confirming the word with signs following."
But neither the prophecies concerning the Gentiles, nor those
concerning the Jews, have yet received their full and entire
completion. Our Saviour hat li not yet had "the uttermost
parts of the earth for his possession," (Psal. ii. 8;) "All the
ends of the world have not yet turned unto the Lord," (xxii. 27 ;)
"All people, nations, and languages, have not yet served him,"
(Dan. vii. 11.) These things have hitherto been only partiallv,
but they will even literally be fulfilled. Neither are the Jews
yet made "an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations,"
(Isa. lx. 15.) The time is not. yet come, when "violence shall
no more be heard in the land, wasting nor destruction within
their borders," (ver. 18.) God's promises to them are not yet
made good in their full extent. "Behold, I will take the chil-
dren of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone,
and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their
own land. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given
unto Jacob my servant, even they and their children, and their
children's children for ever, and my servant David shall be
their prince for ever," (Ezek. xxxvii. 21, 25;) "Then shall they
know that I am the Lord their God, who caused them to be
led into captivity among the heathen ; but I have gathered them
unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there.
Neither will I hide my face any more from them, for I have
poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord
God," (xxxix. 28, 29.) However, what hath already been ac-
complished is a sufficient pledge and earnest of what is yet to
come : and we have all imaginable reason to believe, since so
many of these prophecies are fulfilled, that the remaining pro-
phecies will be fulfilled also; that there will be yet a greater
harvest of the nations, and the yet unconverted parts of the
earth will be enlightened with the knowledge of the Lord ; that
the Jews will in God's good time be converted to Christianity,
and upon their conversion be restored to their native city and
country : and especially since the state of affairs is such, that
they mav return without much difficulty, having no dominion,
10* " P
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BISHOP NEWTON
no settled country, or fixed property to detain tnem much any
when:. We have seen the prophecy of Hosna (iii. 4, 5) ful
lilled in part, and why should we not believe that it will be ful-
filled in the whole? "The children of Israel shall abide many
i!ovH without a king-, and without a prince, and without a sacri-
fice'-, and without an image, (or altar,) and without, an epliod, (or
.,•;, ./ io wear an eplwd,) and without teraphim, (or divine mani-
''< .-.■/«,' ion.) Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and
r-c.-k I he Lord their Cod, and David their king-, and shall fear
the Lord and his goodness in the latter days."
We ha re now exhibited a summary view of the prophecies of
the Old Testament more immediately relative to the present
-s;>te and condition of the Jews: and what stronger and more
convincing arguments can yon require of the truth both of the
Jewish and of the Christian religion 1 The Jews were once the
peculiar people of God: and as St.. Paul sait.h, (Lorn. xi. 1,)
"Hath Cod cast away his people 1 Cod forbid." We see that
after so many ages they are still preserved by a miracle of pro-
vidence a distinct people ; and why is such a continual miracle
exerted, but for the greater illustration of the divine truth, and
the better accomplishment of the divine promises, as well those
which are yet to be, as those which are already fulfilled] We
see that the great empires, which in their turns subdued and
oppressed the people of Cod, are all come to ruin : because
though they executed the purposes of God, yet that was more
than they understood; all that they intended was to satiate
their own pride and ambition, their own cruelty and revenge.
And if such hath been the fatal end of the enemies and op-
pressors of tlie Jews, let it serve as a warning to all those, who
at any time or upon any occasion arc for raising a clamour and
persecution against them. They are blameable no doubt for
persisting in their infidelity after so many means of conviction ;
but this is no warrant or authority for us to proscribe, to abuse,
injure, and oppress them, as Christians of more zeal than cither
knowledge or charity have in all ages been apt to do. Charity
ii greater than faith : and it is worse in us to be cruel and uncha-
ritable, than it is in them to be obstinate and unbelieving.
Persecution is the spirit of popery, and in the worst of popish
countries the Jews are the most cruelly used and persecuted :
the spirit of protestantism is toleration and indulgence to
weaker consciences. Compassion to this unhappy people is
not to defeat the prophecies ; for only wicked nations were to
harass and oppress them, the good were to show mercy to
them; and we should choose rather to be the dispensers of
God's mercies than the executioners of his judgments. Read
die eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, and see
what the great apostle of the Gentiles, who certainly understood
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the prophecies belter than any of us can pretend to do, saith
of the infidelity of the Jews. Some of the Gentiles of his time
valued themselves upon their superior advantages, and he re-
proves thein for it, that they who "were cut out of the olive-
tree which is wild by nature, and were graded contrary to na-
ture into a good olive-tree," should presume to "boast against
the natural branches," (vcr. 24, 18:) but what would he have
said, how would he have flamed and lightened, if they had made
religion an instrument of faction, and had been for stirring up
a persecution against them? We should consider, that to them
we owe the oracles of God, the Scriptures of the New Testa-
ment as well as the old ; Ave should consider that " the glorious
company of the apostles" as well as " the goodly fellowship of
the prophets" were Jews ; we should consider, that " of them as
concerning the flesh Christ came," the Saviour of the world :
and surely something of kindness and gratitude is due for such
infinite obligations. Though they are now broken off, yet they
are not utterly cast away. " Because of unbelief (as St. Paul
argues, ver. 20,) they were broken off* and thou standest by
faith ; be not high-minded, but fear." There will be a time,
when they will be graffed in again, and again become the people
of God ; for as the apostle proceeds, (ver. 25, 26,) " I would not,
brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, (lest ye
should be wise in your own conceits,) that blindness in part is
happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come
in ; and so all Israel shall be saved." And which (think ye) is
the most likely method to contribute to their conversion, which
are the most natural means to reconcile them to us and our re-
ligion ; prayer, argument, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness ;
or noise and invective, injury and outrage, the malice of some,
and the folly and madness of more'? They cannot be worse
than when they crucified the Son of God, and persecuted Ids
apostles: but what saith our Saviour 1 (Luke xxiii. 34 :) "Fa-
ther, forgive them, for (hey know not what they do :" what saith
his apostle St. Paul 1 (Rom. x. 1 :) " Brethren, my heart's desire
and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved." In
conformity to these blessed examples our church hath also
taught us to pray for them : and how can prayer and persecu-
tion consist and agree together? They are only pretended
friends to the church, but real enemies to religion, who encou-
rage persecution of any kind. All true sons of the church, all
true Protestants, all true Christians will, as the apostle adviseth,
(Eph. iv. 31,) "put away all bitterness, and wrath, and anger,
and clamour, and evil speaking, with all malice ;" and will join
heart and voice in that excellent collect — " Have mercy upon
all Jews, Turks, infidels, and heretics, and take from them all
ignorance, hardness of heart, and contempt of thy word : and
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BISHOP NEWTON
so fetch them home, blessed Lord, to thy flock, that they may
be saved among the remnant of the true Israelites, and be made
one fold, under one shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord."
IX. THE PROPHECIES CONCERNING NINEVEH.
AS the Jews were the peculiar people of God, the prophets
IX were sent to them chiefly, and the main subjects of the
prophecies are the various changes and revolutions in the Jewish
church and state. But the spirit of prophecy is not limited
there ; other subjects are occasionally introduced ; and for the
greater manifestation of the divine providence, the fate of other
nations is also foretold : and especially of those nations which
lay in the neighbourhood of Judea, and had intercourse and con-
nexions with the Jews; and whose good or ill fortune therefore
was of some concern and consequence to the Jews themselves.
But here it is greatly to be lamented, that of these eastern nations
and of these early times we have very short and imperfect ac-
counts ; we have no regular histories, but only a few fragments
of history, which have escaped the general shipwreck of time.
If we possessed the Assyrian history written by Abydenus, and
the Chalda;an by Berosus, and the Egyptian by Manetho, we
might in all probability be better enabled to explain the precise
meaning, and to demonstrate the exact completion of several
ancient prophecies : but for want of such helps and assistances
we must be glad of a little glimmering light wherever we can
see it. We see enough, however, though not to discover the
beauty and exactness of each particular, yet to make us admire
in the general these wonders of providence, and to show that
the condition of cities and kingdoms hath been such, as the pro-
phets had long ago foretold. And we will begin with the in-
stance of Nineveh.
Nineveh was the metropolis of the Assyrian empire, and the
Assyrians were formidable enemies to the kingdoms both of
Israel and Judah. In the days of Menahem king of Israel, Put
the king of Assyria invaded the land, and was bought off with a
thousand talents of silver, (2 Kings xv. 19.) A few years after-
wards, "in the days of Pekah king of Israel, came Tiglath-pileser
king of Assyria, and took several cities, and Gilead, and Galilee,
all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria,"
(2 Kings xv. 29.) The same Tiglath-pileser was invited by
Ahaz king of Judah to come and assist him against Rezin king
of Syria, and Pekah king of Israel : " And Ahaz took the silver
and gold that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the
treasures of the king's house, and sent it for a present to the
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king of Assyria," (2 Kings xvi. S.) The king of Assyria came
accordingly to his assistance, and routed his enemies : but still,
as another sacred writer saith, "distressed him, and strength-
ened him not," (2 Chron. xxviii. 20.) A little after, in the days
of Hoshea king of Israel, " Shalmancser the king of Assyria
came up throughout, all the land," and after a siege of three
years "took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and
placed them in Ilalah, and in Ilahor by the river of Gozan, and
in the cities of the Modes," (2 Kings xvii. 5, 6.) It was " in the
sixth year of Hezekiah," king of Judah, that Shalmancser king
of Assyria carried Israel away captive: and "in the fourteenth
year of king Ilezekiah, did Sennacherib king of Assyria come
up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them,"
(2 Kings xviii. 10, 13.) And the king of Assyria exacted of the
king of Judah " three hundred talents of silver, and thirty ta-
lents of gold ;" so that even good king Hezekiah was forced to
" give him all the silver that was found in the house of the
Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house," (ver. 14, 15.)
Sennacherib notwithstanding sent his captains " with a great
host against Jerusalem," (ver. 17,) but his army was miracu-
lously defeated, and he, himself was afterwards slain at Nineveh,
(2 Kings xix. 35, 3G, 37.) His son Esarhaddon completed the
deportation of the Israelites, " and brought men from Babylon,
and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from
Scpharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead
of the children of Israel ; and they possessed Samaria, and
dwelt in the cities thereof," (2 Kings xvii. 24 ; Ezra iv. 2.) We
see then that the Assyrians totally destroyed the kingdom of
Israel, and greatly oppressed the kingdom of Judah : and no
wonder therefore that they are made the subject of several
prophecies.
The prophet Isaiah denounceth the judgments of God against
Sennacherib in particular, and against the Assyrians in gene-
ral. " 0 Assyrian," or rather, " Wo to the Assyrian, the rod
of mine anger," (x. 5.) God might employ them as the ministers
of his wrath, and executioners of his vengeance ; and so make
the wickedness of some nations the means of correcting that
of others : " I will send him against an hypocritical nation ; and
against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge to take
the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like
the mire in the streets," (ver. 6.) But it was far from any intent
of ^theirs to execute the divine will, or to chastise the vices of
mankind ; they only meant to extend their conquests, and es-
tablish their own dominion upon the ruin of others : " How-
beit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so, but it.
is in his heart to destroy, and cut off nations not a few," (ver. 7.)
Wherefore when they shall have served the purposes of divine
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BISHOP NEWTON
Providenc.?, they shall lie severely punished for their pride and
nnibnion, their tyranny and cruelly to their neighbours:
" Wherem.e ii shall come to pass, that w hen the Lord hath per-
formed In., whole work upon mount Zion, and on Jerusalem,
I will pimir.ii the fruit, of the stout heart of the king of Assyria,
and the irloiy of his high looks," (ver. 12.) There was no pros-
pect of suen an event, while the Assyrians were in the midst of
llieir successes and triumphs: hut still the word of the prophet
prevailed; and it was not long after tlie.-e calamities brought
upon the Jews, of w hich we have given a short, deduction, that
tins Assyrian empire properly so called was overthrown, and
Nineveh destroyed.
Nineveh, or Ninus, as it was most usually called by the
Greeks and Romans, was, as we said before, the capital city of
the Assyrian empire; and the capita! is frequently put for the
whole empire, the prosperity or ruin of the one being involved
in that of the other. This was a very ancient city, being built
by Asshur or as others say by Nimrod ; for those words of
Moses, (Gen. x. 11,) which our translators together with most
of the ancient versions render thus, "Out of that land went
forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh," others translate, as the
' Cha.ldee Paraphrast translates them, and as they are rendered
in the margin of our Bibles, "Out of that land he," that is,
Nimrod, the person spoken of before, "went forth into Assyria,
and builded Nineveh." It is well known that the word Asshur
in Hebrew is the name of the country as well as the name of
the man, and the preposition is often omitted, so that the words
may very well be translated he went forth into Assyria. And
Moses is here giving an account of the sous of Ham, and it
may seem foreign to his subject to intermix the story of any of
the sons of Shem, as Asshur was. Moses afterwards recounts the
sons of Shem, and Asshur among them ; and it is presumed that
he would hardly relate his actions, before he had mentioned his
nativity, or even his name, contrary to the series of the gene-
alogy and to the order of the history. But this notwithstanding
I incline to understand the text literally as it is translated,
" Out of that land went forth Asshur," being expelled thence by
Nimrod, "and builded Nineveh" and other cites, in opposition
to the cities which Nimrod had founded in the land of Shinar.
And neither is it foreign to the subject, nor contrary to the
order of the history, upon the mention of Nim rod's invading
and seizing the territories of Asshur, to relate whither Asshur
retreated, and where lie fortified himself against him. But by
whomsoever Nineveh was built, it might afterwards be greatly
enlarged and improved by Ninus, and called after his name,
whoever Ninus was, for that is altogether uncertain.
1 8 De terra il'.a egressus est in Assyriam." Orik.
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As it was a very ancient, so was it likewise a very great city.
In Jonah it is styled " (hat great city," (i. 2 ; iii. 2,) '" an exceed-
ing great city," (iii. 3.) In the original it. is a city great to
God; 2 in the same manner as Moses is called by St. Stephen,
in the Acts of (he Apostles, (vii. 20,) imios rjs oa, fair to God,
or exceeding fair, as our translators rightly render it; and so
"the mortmains of God," (Psal. xxxvi. 6,) are exceeding high
mountains, and "the cedars of God," (Psal. Ixxx. 10,) are ex-
ceeding tall cedars. It was therefore "an exceeding great
city;" and the scripture-account is confirmed by the testimony
of heathen authors. Strabo 3 says, that Nineveh was much
greater even than.Babylon : and Diodorus Siculus 4 from Ctesias
affirms that 'its builder Ninus proposed to build a cily of such
magnitude, that it should not only be (he greatest of the cities
which were then in all the world, but that none of those who
should be born after that time attempting the like should easily
exceed it;' and a little after he subjoins, that 'nobody after-
wards built such a city, either as to the greatness of the com-
pass, or as to the magnificence of the walls.' It is added in
Jonah, (iii. 3,) that it was "an exceeding great city of three
days' journey," 5 (hat is, of three days' journey in circuit, as St.
Jerome and the best commentators expound it. Strabo, as it
was observ ed before, hath said that Nineveh was much larger
than Babylon; and a little afterwards he says, that 6 the circuit
of Babylon was 385 furlongs : but Diodorus Siculus 7 asserts
that the whole circuit of Nineveh was 480 furlongs; which 8
make somewhat more than 60 miles, and 60 miles were three
days' journey, 20 miles a day being the common computation
of a foot traveller. It is farther said in Jonah, (iv. 11,) that in
Nineveh "there were more than sixscore thousand persons who
could not discern between their right hand and their left hand,
and also much cattle." I think it is 9 generally calculated that
2 Ev^n 1 ? nVnr-fy Deo magna civitas,
x6\ts ptyd\n t<~) Ge'J, Sept.
3 noXij or ud^uv rjv Tjjs Ba/?uXwi'0f. Ea
mulio major eral Babylime. Strabo, 1. 16,
p. 1071.
4 — *E<r7rcu<Ss rn\lKnvTnv Krtcai rb urytBoc
ir6\iv, were pj povav airrijv uvai ucytarr/v rwy
tote ot'ffwv Kara traffic ri)v oiKOVfiivnv, aWH
pilSi tISv f<cr,>y£v£(n-ff>wv lripu>v imfluWiue-
vov 'pqeews Sv birepbicrBat. Tantaz quoque
molis urbem condcrefestinabut, ut non modo
omnium tunc in orbe terrarum maxima exis-
tcret, scd eliam ut nemo post genitorum tale
quid,aggrcssus ipsum facile superaret.
Tr/XtKavrnv yap 7rdX(v oviids iicrcpov tileries
Kara re rd utyc&os rov rztpifioXov, Kai rr)v irrpi
to tei^os itcyaXarphuav. A nullo enim post-
modu/n urbs lanto ambitus spatio, tantaque
magnijeentia rnanium exstrucla fuit. Diod.
Siculus, 1. 2, c. 3.
*■ ' Civitas magna et tanti ambitus ; ut vis
tritim dierum posset, itinere circumiri.' Hie-
ron. Comment, in loruni.
s Tbv ot k»k\ov l^u rov rd%ovc TOiaw
ffttav dy&oriKovra ittvrt araSifiiv. Muri ambitu
ecrxxev stndiorum. Strabo, 1. 16, p. 1072.
7 Tov ovuxavTos 7r£pi/?yXou cvoradivTOi IK
araStuiv rcrpiiKotribiv kih byborjKovra. jiwbi'
tus Mux stadiis ccccxxc constat. 1. 2, c. 3.
* 'Mini circuitus stadiorum fuisse
cccclxxx, id est, milliariiim sei-aginta;
quoe triduanum iter facient, si singulorum
dierum iter trstitnes viginti milliaribus : quo-
modo definierunt non Jurisconsult! solum,
sed et Gnecorum vetustissimi. Herodotus,
1. 5, c. 53. TlevTi'/Kovra 5e Kat Ik'itvv nrdtia
en rjfirpjj iKdarj] bu^ivijai. Centum et quin-
quaginta stadia unoquoque die pcrazrantilius.
cl stadia sunt viginti milliaria, &c.' Bu-
charti Phaleg. 1. 4, c. 20, col. 252.
9 Bochart. ibid. col. 233. Lowth's Com-
ment, and Calmet's.
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BISHOP NEWTON
the voung children of any place are a fifth part of the inhabitants;
and if we admit of that calculation, the whole number of inha-
bitants in Nineveh amounted to above six hundred thousand:
which number will appear by no means incredible, if we consi-
der the dimensions of .the city as given by Diodorus Siculus,'
i hat it was in length 150 furlongs, in breadth 90 furlongs, and
in circuit 480 furlongs, that is 20 miles long, about 12 miles
broad, and above CO miles in compass. A city of such dimen-
sions might easily contain such a number of inhabitants, and
many more : and at the same time there might be, as there are
in most of (he great cities of the east, large vacant spaces for
gardens or for pasture ; so that there might be, as the sacred
text asserts there was, "also much cattle." But according to
the modern method of calculation, 2 the number of the Ninevites
is reduced much lower. For allowing that the number of in-
fants was one hundred and thirty thousand, as the Scripture
saith that they were more than one hundred and twenty thou-
sand ; yet these making but three-tenths of the inhabitants, the
number of citizens will appear to have amounted to four hun-
ched and twenty-three thousand. London and Paris stand not
upon one-quarter of the ground, and yet. are supposed to con-
tain more inhabitants ; London even more than the former cal-
culation, and Paris more than the latter; it being 3 computed
that in London there are about 725,943 persons, and about
437,478 in Paris.
The inhabitants of Nineveh, like those of other great cities,
abounding in wealth and luxury, became very corrupt in their
morals. Whereupon it pleased God to commission the prophet
Jonah to preach unto them the necessity of repentance, as the
only means of averting their impending destruction: and such
was the success of his preaching, that both the king and the
people repented and turned from their evil ways, and thereby
for a time delayed the execution of the divine judgments.
Who this king of Assyria was we cannot be certain, we can
only make conjectures, his name not being mentioned in the
hook of Jonah. Archbishop Usher 5 supposeth him to have been
Pul the king of Assyria, who afterwards invaded the kingdom
of Israel, in the days of Menahem, (2 Kings xv. 19 ;) it being
very agreeable to the methods of providence to make use of an
heathen king who was penitent, to punish the impenitency of
God's own people Israel. But it. should seem more probable,
that this prince was one of the kings of Assyria, before any of
those who are mentioned in Scripture. For Jonah is reckoned
1 E7^f fie ruJv ftlv fiaK/torifliav TrXcupwr txa-
rtoav fj 7rrfAcs [Kurdv K'd vcvrfiKovra arahmvy
rwy <.i ^p'f^urf'pdjj/, h zvfjKiiY-a jc. r. \. Lulus
utrmaut Irmgiits ad CL stadia r-mtrrtl ; reli~
tp/u dun muiora, xc oblinad, §*c. Du>d. Sic.
1. 2, c. 3.
! Maitland's Hist, of London b. S, c. 2
p. 542.
3 Maitland,j>. 541 et 548.
4 See Usher s Annals, A. M. 3233, p. 58,
and Lowth's Comment.
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
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I he most ancient of all the prophets usually so called, whose
writings are preserved in the canon of Scripture. We know
thai, lie prophesied of the restoration of (lie coasts of Israel
taken by the king of Syria, which was accomplished by Jero-
boam the second, (2 Kings xiv. 25:) and therefore Jonah must
haw. lived before that time; and is with great reason supposed
by liishop Lloyd in his Chronological Tables to have prophe-
sied at the hitter end of Jehu's, or the beginning of (lie reign of
.le.hoahaz, when the kingdom of Israel was reduced very low,
and greatly oppressed by Hazael king of Syria, (2 Kings x. 32.)
If he prophesied at that time, there intervened Jehoahaz's reign
of seventeen years, Joash's reign of sixteen years, Jeroboam's!
of forty and one years, Zachariah's of six months, Shallum's of
one month, and Menahern was seated on the throne of Israel,
before any mention is made of Pul the king of Assyria : and
therefore we may reasonably conclude from the distance of
time, which was above seventy years, that Jonah was not sent
to Pul the king of Assyria, but to one of his predecessors,
though to whom particularly we are unable to discover, for the
want before complained of, the want of Assyrian histories,
which no doubt would have related so memorable a transaction.
But this repentance of the Ninevites, we may presume, was
of no long continuance. For not many years after we find the
prophet Nahum foretelling the total and entire destruction of
the city; though there is no certainty of the time of Na hum's,
any more than of Jonah's prophesying. Josephus 5 saith that he
flourished in the time of Jotham king of Judah, and that all the
things which he foretold concerning Nineveh came to pass one
hundred and fifteen years afterwards. St. Jerome 6 place th him
under Hezekiah, king of Judah, and saith that his name by in-
terpretation is a comforter ; for the ten tribes being carried away
by the king of Assyria, this vision was to comfort them in their
captivity; nor was it a less consolation to the other two tribes
of Judah and Benjamin, who remained in the land, and were
besieged by the same enemies, to hear that these conquerors
would in time be conquered themselves, their city be taken, and
their empire overthrown. All that is said of him in Scrip-
ture is "Nahum the Elkoshite," (Nahum i. 1,) which title in
5 Hf Si rif Kara" tovtov rbv Kdtpbv ffpo-
^ifrrjy Nao6[ios t 1 ovvo/iti. Ernt autem quirlem
en tempore votes, cut nomen Nahumus. XvviSn
U Tavra rd raoctpr^fiiva xtpi Nivtu^s, /lcrd
zrij UaTbv ttat TrtvTiKalhtm. Evenerunt autem
imnia quads Nineve pradicta sunt centum et
quintlecim past annos. Jos. Antiq. lib. 9, c
11,8 3.
G * Naum qui interpretatur consolaior. Jam
enim decern tribus ab Assyriis deducts fue-
11
rant in captivitatem sub Ezechia rege Juda,
sub quo etiam nunc in eonsolationem populi
transmigrate adversum Ninevcn visio cenii-
tur. Noc erat parva consolaiio, tarn his qui
jam Assyriis serviebant, quam reliquis qui
sub Ezechia de Iribu Juda et Benjamin ab
iisdem hoslibus obsidebanlur : ut audirent
Assyrios quoque a Chaldieis esse capiendo?,
sicut in consequentibus hujus libii demon*
strabitur.' Hieron. Prol. in Naum.
a
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HI.SIIOP NEWTON
nil |ini'..i'i'!ir, u.-i- L'iviMi him from (ho place of his nativity;
and 7 Hi. .I i-'me suppose! h ii (o haw been a village in Galilee,
(]„• ni,i - v, I'aivnl' w ere shewn In him, w hen In; I ravelled in those
| \ 'W we learn from (lie sacred history, (2 Kings XV. 29,)
| e. j,V of "(Jalilee were l;iK< II h\ Tibial 1 1-piJcs-Cl" king
i.f \ ' a, a nil carried captive into Assy i ia." It. is not impro-
I ih.'ivfore, that at thai lime this prophet, who was a (jiiili-
1. mi'jhi he instructed to foretell the fall of Nineveh ; and
thai i!.i,e coincides with the reign of Jothiini king of Judith,
which is the time assigned for Nahum's prophesying hy Jose-
phiH. Hnt if.Iosephns was right in this particular, lie was wrong
in another; for more than one hundred and fifteen years intcr-
\eia d between the reign of Jolham king of Judah, and the de-
struction of Nineveh, as it is usually computed hy chronologers.
There is one thing, which might greatly assist us in fixing the
time of Nahum's prophesying ; and that is the destruction of
No-Amon or Diospolis in Egypt, which he mentions (chap,
iii. S, &c.) as a late transaction, if we could know certainly
when that destruction happened, or by whom it was effected.
It is commonly attributed to Nebuchadnezzar; but that time is
too late, and the destruction of No-Amon would fall out after
the destruction of Nineveh instead of before it. Dr. Prideaux 8
with mine reason believes, that it was effected by Sennacherib,
before la' marched against Jerusalem ; and then Nalmm's pro-
phesying would coincide exaclly with the reign of Ilezekiah,
which is the lime assigned for it hy St. Jerome.
But w henever it w as that Nahum prophesied, he plainly and
largely foretold the destruction of Nineveh ; his w hole prophecy
relates to this single event: and the city was accordingly de-
stroyed by the Medes and Babylonians. This point I think is
generally agreed upon, that Nineveh was taken and destroyed
by the Medes and Babylonians; these two rebelling and unit-
ing together subverted ihe Assyrian empire : but authors differ
much about the time when Nineveh was taken, and about the
king of Assyria in whose reign it was taken, and even iibout
the persons who had the command in this expedition. Hero-
dotus 5 affirms, that it was taken by Cyaxares king of the Medes ;
St. Jerome, after the Hebrew chronicle, 1 asserts that it was taken
by Nabuchodonosor king of (he Babylonians: but, these ac-
counts may hi; easily reconciled, for Cyaxares and Nabucho-
donosor might take it with their joint forces, as they actually
* 1 EIt-«i nwpir Iindii! in G:ilil;i n vimlns,
parvus rpii.lrni, M vix minis vw. rum irililir-in-
r.nn inriirrin- viv-!i/';t : sri! tami'll tintns Ju-
c.:ims; ci miln rgiio'jui' a firciiriudircnti' tii'in-
ulraii.i.' Hi. Ton. Pr..l. in Nnmn.
• Priil. Ciimi.-ri. j.nrl 1, Ii. 1. Anno 713.
MMiik 10. " 11,-r.jJ. I. 1, c. 100.
1 Ilirron. in Naum ii. 12. Seder Olarr.
Rubba soli Nabnnhoilonosnr rem auriliuit, et
trmpus ponit. Annn primo Nabuchiidonosor
subnet Ninrvnn, nl est, noli iliu postmortem
pairis. Kbraieum line Chrunii'on seeutl
sum S. Hieronvrrms, &.c.' Ivlarsbami Ctirun.
fcuc xviii. p. 559.
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
123
did according to that which is written in the hook of Tohif,
(xiv. 15,) if the Assuerus in Tobit Ijc the s.ime (as there is great
reason lo lliink him the same) witli the Cyaxares of Herodotus:
"Hut before Tobias died, he heard of the destruction of Ni-
neveh, w hich was taken by Nabucliodonosor and Assuerns ;
and before his death he rejoiced over Nineveh." Joscphus 2 who
waith in one place that (he empire of the Assyrians was dis-
solved by the Medes, saith in another that the Medes and Ba-
bylonians dissolved the empire of the Assyrians. Herodotus
himself 3 saith that the Medes took Nineveh, and subdued the
Assyrians, except the Babylonian portion ; the reason of which
was, the Babylonians were their allies and confederates. Gtesias,
and after him 4 Diodorus Siculus, ascribe the taking of Nineveh,
and the subversion of the Assyrian empire, to Arbaces the Mode,
assisted by Belesis the Babylonian. I know that 5 Eusebius,
and after him several excellent chronologers, Usher, Prideaux,
and others, reckon this quite a different action, and fix it at quite
a different time ; but it is not likely that the same city should
be twice destroyed, and the same empire twice overthrown, by
the same people twice confederated together. Diodorus, who
relates this catastrophe, doth not mention the other; but saith
expressly, 6 that Arbaces distributed the citizens of Nineveh in
the country villages, levelled the city with the ground, trans-
ferred many talents of gold and silver to Ecbatana the royal city
of the Medes ; and so, saith he, the empire of the Assyrians was
subverted. If there is some difficulty in discovering the persons
by whom Nineveh was taken, there is more in ascertaining the
king of Assyria in whose reign it was taken, and more still in
fixing the time when it was taken, scarce any two chronologers
agreeing in the same date : but as these things are hardly pos-
sible to be known, so neither are they necessary to be known,
with precision and exactness ; and we may safely leave them
among the uncertainties of ancient history and chronology.
tav KariiXvO'jvat. Axxyrioruih impcrium a
fifcrlis cutrsuin iri c.ontigit. Joseph. Antiq.
1. 10, c. 2, § 2. — Mijiovs *<" tou; Ba/?uA«-
viovs, oi rhv 'Acftvpiav KariXvaav ap%fiv.
Me'lftn ct Bibylonins, qui Assyriorum evcrte-
rant impcrium. Ibid . o. 5, § 1.
3 K(ti rt]v rt Ntvov sTXovj Kai rovs *A.irffupr-
ovi bvo^tiptovi ivoifiaavTO, -\>iv Trjs Butlv\w
vtns [iotpr/c. J?t jXinum e.Tpugnaverunt, As-
syriosque, cxrepta Babylonica portione, sube-
gerunl. Hi -rod. 1. 1, c. 106.
4 Diod. Sic. 1. 2, c. 2-1.
5 11 Eusebius (more suo) utramque sen-
tentiam in Canoiietn retulit: ad mentem
Ctesiae, 'Arises Medus (ait, Num. 1197,)
Assyriorum iinperio destrueto, regnum in
Medos translulit.' Deiu (post annos 213)
ex auctoritale Herodoli, Num. 1410. ' Cy-
axares Mcdus subvcrlit Ninitrn,' Ista au-
tetn itn'urrara suni." Marsbami Chronicon.
Soec. xvm. p. 556.
fi 'O <$' ovv 'Apfiiiicrjc to7s Kara ri)v ir<J>u
inflows ipooivt^Oiis, ulroiis pel' Kara Kiaftai,
it Ktoc, rill' <3f t?6\iv CIS wntyos Kariaku-
T cv. "ETfira r6v tz apyvpov teal %pvabv
• no^Xwv own Ta\dvruv, aircKOfitot ri;f
MriStas ih 'Ef/^arara. 'H uh' ocv fiyefiovia
rwv 'Aaauplwp vrrd Mijtiwv KarfAvSn rdv
Trpotiprifiivov rpixov. Simiti qttopte Icnilute
erga cices urns, quomvis in ptigos cos rfisfra-
heretj — urbem avtem solo aquavit. Turn
argentum et aurum — (multa eerie talcnta
erant) in Ecbatana JWetlorvm regiam trans-
tulit. Hoc ergo modo Assyriorum imperium
— a 3Iedis eversum est. Diod. Sic. 1. 2, c. 28.
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BISHOP NEWTON
It is sufficient for our purpose, llmt Nineveh was taken and
destroyed according to the predictions: and Nahum foretold
not only t lie thing, but also tlie manner of it. Herodotus pro-
mised to relate in his Assyrian history how Nineveh was taken; 7
the Medes took Nineveh, sail.h he, but how they took it, I will
show in another work. Again afterwards he mentions his design
of writing the Assyrian history. Speaking of the kings of Ba-
bylon he saith, 8 of these I shall make mention in the Assyrian
history. But to our regret this history was never finished, or is
lost. 'More probably it was never finished, for otherwise some
or other of the ancients would have mentioned it. If it had
been extant with his other works, it would, in all probability,
have been of great service in illustrating several passages in
Nahum's prophecies. It is however something fortunate, that
we can in some measure supply this loss out of Diodorus Si-
culus. Nahum prophesies, that the Assyrians should be taken
while they were drunken, (i. 10,) "For while they be folden
together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards,
they shall be devoured as stubble full dry :" and 9 Diodorus
relates, that 'it was while all the Assyrian army were feasting
for their former victories, that those about Arbaces being in-
formed by some deserters of the negligence and drunkenness in
the camp of the enemies, assaulted them unexpectedly by night,
and falling orderly on them disorderly, and prepared on them
unprepared, became masters of the camp, and slew many of the
soldiers, and drove the rest into the city. 5 Nahum foretells,
(ii. 6,) that "the gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the
palace shall be dissolved :" and 1 Diodorus informs us, 6 that
* Kal ty\v te Ntvow eiXqv (&s Se tlXov, tv eri~
Qotui Xdyoici (JtjXgjo-w.) Kt Ninum expug-
naverunt (ut autem crperint : in ahis mox scrip-
(is indicabo.) Herod. 1. 1, c. 106.
8 Toiv iv rolat 'Accvpiotfrt Xdyoitrt [tvtjixtjv
Trotfaofxat. Quorvm in exponendisrehus As-
tyriis mentionemfaciam. Herod. 1. 1, c. 184.
Vossius de Hist. Grmc. 1. 1, c. 3. Fabricius
Bib. Gr;ec. 1. 2, c. 20.
a AtSnep rlj? Iwd/ietas hvdaris icri(aufvtjg t
ot TCpt rdv ' 'ApSaK^v rrapd rivuiv aurOfioXtav
rrvOdfievoi r>}v iv rfj T:ap€ui3oXf} twv voXtftrnv
fjuOv/jtav icai utQnv, vvtcrbs arpoa&QKfirtoi; ti/v
e-Wcctv irroiijcavTO. UpoarricdvTes <5« oiivre-
rayftfvoi uev dcvvraKroiSj 'e">iftoi drrapa-
cKfuotS) rjjj re -rrapEufioXrjg iKpdrrioav, xai rmv
OTpttTtujTuiv iroXXovs dvtX6vrz^j rob$ dXXovg fie-
%pt Ttjs it6Xna$ Kart&iui^av. Tula igUur
exercitu eonviviis indulgente, Arbaces per
transfugas de negligentia et ehrietate hos-
tiutn edoctus, noctu ex impromso Mas oppri-
tnit. Et quoniam compositi incompositos y
parati \mpar<ilos % invadeoant, facile ct caslra
txpugnant, ct vastam hostium stragem tdunt,
et reliquos in urbem compellunt. Diod. Sic.
). 2, c:, 26.
1 T Hv avT<>} Xdytov rapaSc6of.ih'Ov (k irao-
ydvitiV) '6rt rijv Ntvov ovSch cXp Kara Kpdrog,
tdv ftij Ttporcpov b irorafids rij ~6Xei ycvrjrui
TroXtuiog. Tip rpino 6' etei, (ruvCYWff
Sfi0pu>v f>ay$atiov Karap ayrvruv, avvi0t} rbv
lLi)tppdT7}v [Tiyptv] fityav ycvojxzvov KaraicXv-
cat tc ptipos rijs irCXm^ Kai KarafiaXetv to
Tct^pi eiri cradtovs eikogiv. *EvravOa b fiaai-
Xcvg vouicag TtrcXtcSui tov Xptjaubv, Kal rfj
irrfXet tov ircra/jov ytyovhai ipavcp&i -noXeuicv,
dviyvu) rtjv (rwTijpiav. "Iva oh y.r\ roig iroXefxi-
tg yevr/Tat viro^etpiog, Ttvpdvh rots (3a<TtXtt<n$
KartcKtvactv vrsspntytOt/, Kitt t6v te %ovb&v Kal
rbv apyvpov artavra, rrpb; 6e tovtois rr\v 0a<ri-
XtKtiv tod/jra :racav em ravrriv iawpEvas. T«s
iraXXaKidag Kal tqvc tuvovftovg ovyKXElaag
eh tov tv pivij Tjj vvpq. KaTtuKtvauuhov qI'kov,
aua TovTQig airaatv favrdv te Kal rd fiamXtia
KareKavccv. 0\ 6* O-TzoaTarai^ 7tv06[xevoi r?jv
drzOXuav ZapSavamiXov, rrjs (lfv n6Xeus
expdTTjaaVf eIutte^vtes Kara rd irETrroiKos
ptpo$ rod tzi%vvs. Jltqui vaticinium a mayo-
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
125
thorn was an old prophecy, that Nineveh should not he taken,
till the river became an enemy to llie city; and in the third
year of the siege, the river being swoln with continual rain.-;
overflowed part of the city, and broke down the wall for twenty
furlongs; then the king thinking that the oracle was fulfilled,
and the river become an enemy to the city, built a large funeral
pile in the palace, and collecting together all bis wealth and
bis concubines and eunuchs, burnt himself and I be palace with
I hem till : and the enemy entered the breach that tins waters had
made, and took tire city.' What was predicted in the first chap-
ter (ver. S) Was therefore literally fulfilled: "With an overrun-
ning Hood he will make an utter end of the place thereof."
promises the enemy much spoil of gold and silver,
(ii. 9 :) "Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold ; for
there is no end of the store, and glory out of all the pleasant
furniture :" and we read in 2 Diodorus, that Arbaces carried
many talents of gold and silver to Ecbatana the royal city of
the Modes. According to Nullum, (i. 8; iii. 15,) the city was to
be destroyed by fire and water ; and we sec in Diodorus, that by
fire and water it was destroyed.
Hut Nahuin is cited upon this occasion principally to shew,
that he foretold the total and entire destruction of this city.
"The Lord, (saith he in the first chapter, ver. 8, 9,) with an
overrunning flood will make an utter end of the place thereof;
he will make an utter end ; affliction shall not rise up the se-
cond time." Again in the second chapter, (ver. 1], 13,)
" Where is the dwelling of the lions, and the feeding place of
the young lions'?" meaning Nineveh whose princes ravaged
like lions : "Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts,
and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy
messengers shall no more be heard." And again in the third
and last chapter, (ver. 17 — 19:) "Thy crowned are as the lo-
custs, and thy captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp
in the hedges in the cold day; but when the sun ariseth, they
flee away, and their place is not known where they are, (or have
been;) thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria; thy nobles
shall dwell in the dust ; thy people is scattered upon the moun-
rihus tradilum habebat : ' a nulla capi NU
num posse, nisifluvius urbi prius hostis eva-
deret' — Tertio demum anno accidit, ut Eu-
phrates, [Tigris,] continues imbrium gravis-
simorum tempestalibus excrescens, urbis par-
tem inundaret, et murum ad stadia xx deji-
ceret. Turn vero flnem habere oraculum, am-
nemque manifests urbi hostem esse, rex judi-
cans, spem salutis abjecit. haque ne in hos-
tium manus perveniret, rogum in regia in-
gentem exstruxit ; quo aurum et argentum
omne, et quicquid erai regii vestimenti, con-
cessit. Turn concubinis et eunuehis in de-
ll*
munculam quam in medio pyrce exsiruxerat
conclusis, se regiamque cum i'llis omnibus in-
cendio absumpsit. Cuius interitum cum au-
dissent, qui a rege defecerant, per collapsam
muri partem ingressi, urbem ceperunt. Diod.
Sic. 1. 2, c. 26, 27.
2 *Eirctra r6v rt aoyvoov Kai %pvcbv rbv Ik
t7[S nvoas bno\ettpSivra, tto^\£ov Svra raXdv-
tuv, aittriuitrs rrjs Mt/^kzs us 'E<l3drava.
Turn quicquid argenti aurique ex pyra recta-
bat (mulia certe talenta erant) in Ecbatana
JMedorum regiam transtulit. Diod. Sic.
1. 2, c. 28.
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BISHOP NEWTON
Lain>, and no man gaihereth them : there is no healing of thy
bruise; I liv wound is grievous; all that hear the bruit of thee
shall clap (he hands over thee; for upon whom hath not thy
wickedness passed continually V The prophet Zcphaniah like-
wise, in the days of Josiah king of Judah, foretold (he same sad
evenr, (ii. 13 — 15:) "The Lord will slrelcii out his hand against
ihe north, and destroy Assyria, and will make Nineveh a deso-
lation, and dry like a wilderness: and flocks shall lie clown in
the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations; both the cormo-
rant, and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it ;
their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in
the thresholds; for he shall uncover the cedar work: this is the
rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am,
and there is none beside me ; how is she become a desolation,
a place for beasts to lie down in ! every one that passeth by
her, shall hiss and wag his hand." But what probability was
there that the capital city of a great kingdom, a city which was
sixtv miles in compass, a city which contained so many thou-
sand inhabitants, a city which had walls, according to Diodorus
Siculus, s a hundred feet high, and so thick that three chariots
could go abreast upon them, and fifteen hundred towers at pro-
per distances in the walls of two hundred feet in height : what
probability was there, I say, that such a city should ever be
totally destroyed 1 and yet so totally was it destroyed, that the
place is hardly known where it was situated.
We have seen that it was taken and destroyed by the Medes
and Babylonians: and what we may suppose helped to com-
plete its ruin and devastation was Nebuchadnezzar's soon after-
wards enlarging and beautifying of Babylon. From that time
no mention is made of Nineveh by any of the sacred writers;
and the most ancient of the heathen authors, who have occasion
to say any thing about it, speak of it as a city that was once
great and flourishing, but now destroyed and desolate. Great
as it was formerly, so little of it was remaining, that authors
are not agreed even about its situation. I think we may con-
clude from the general suffrage of ancient historians and geo-
graphers, that it was situated upon the river Tigris ; but yet
no less authors than 4 Ctesias and Diodorus Siciilus represent
it as situated upon the river Euphrates. Nay authors differ
not only from one another, but also from themselves. For the
learned 5 Bochart hath shewn that Herodotus, Diodorus Sicu-
lus, and Ammianus Marcellinus, all three speak differently of
3 Ti fih yap 5^05 ffyc t3 tc'xos ttoJwv nem curruum junr.tim agilandorum porren-
f Jcarfiv, rd 5e rXdros tqigIv apjiactv [Tnrdcifiov tus erat. Turres in eo MD ducentos pedes
t/v. 01 5} ebfiiravTzs irtipyoi tov [tfv apiO/'dv alias. Diod. Sic. 1. 2, c. 3.
i,aav %(\lot Kfil nivrn-Kdc^oi, rb 5 7 vipos n^o? * Diod. Sic. 1. 2, c. 3,27.
Tvfuiv ItntouMv. Nam nrntua art c pedum 5 Bncliarti Phale°\ lib. 4, cap. 20, coL
allitudiaem, exmrgcbal, et ad trbim lalitudi- 248, 249.
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
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it, somntiniOH as if it. was situated upon the river Tigris, and
sometimes as if it was situated upon the river Euphrates. So
that. In reconcile these authors with themselves and with others,
it is supposed hy "Bochart tliat there were two Ninevehs, and
by 7 Sir John Marshall) that there were three ; the Syrian upon
the river Euphrates, the Assyrian upon t lie river Tigij*, and a
third built afterwards upon the Tigris hy the Persians, who
succeeded the Parthians in the empire of the east, in die third
century, and were subdued by the Saracens in the seventh cen-
tury after Christ ; hut whether this latter Nineveh w as built in
the same place as old Nineveh is a question that cannot be de-
cided. Lucian, 8 who flourished in the second century after
Christ, affirms that Nineveh was utterly perished, and there
was no footstep of it remaining, nor could you tell where once
it was situated ; and the greater regard is to be paid to Lncian's
testimony, as he was a native of Samosata, a city upon the
river Euphrates, and coming from a neighbouring country he
must in all likelihood have known whether there had been any
remains of Nineveh or not. There is at this time a. city called
Mosul, situate upon the western side of the river Tigris, and
on the opposite eastern shore are ruins of a great extent, which
are said to he the ruins of Nineveh. Benjamin of Tudela, 9 who
wrote his Itinerary in the year of Christ 1173, informs us, that
there is only a bridge between Mosul and Nineveh ; this latter
is laid waste, yet hath it many streets and castles. But an-
other, who wrote in 1300, asserts that Nineveh at present is
totally laid waste, but by the ruins which are still to be seen
there, we may firmly believe that it was one of the greatest
cities in the world. The same thing is attested by later tra-
vellers, and particularly by 1 Thevenot, upon whose authority
Prideaux relates that 'Mosul is situated on the west side of
the river Tigris, where was anciently only a. suburb of the old
Nineveh, for the city itself stood on the east side of the river,
where are to be seen some of its ruins of great extent even to
this day.' Tavernier likewise affirms, 2 that ' cross the Tigris,
6 'Non video haec aliter posse conciliari,
quam si dicatur duplex fuisseNinus ; una ad
Euphratem in Comasena ; altera in Assyria
trans Tigrirn, &c.' Bocharti Phaleg. lib. 4,
can. 20, col. 248, 249.
■Est igttur (in vcterum scriptis) Ninus
triplex, Syriaca, Assyriaca, et Persica, &c.'
Marshami Chron. Saec. xvm. p. 559.
8 H NTi'Off ijz6\ia\ev ij5rj 7 Kai ovtev ix va 5
eti \on:dv aurijy, oi5' av ciV/jj Stou iror j/r.
Ninus jam est evcrsa, ita ut ne rdjquum
qmihm sit ejus vestigium, nec ubi niim situ
f uerit, facile dixeris. Luciani 'Eiricnt. vel
Contemplantes, prone fin.
9 * Benjamin Tudelensis (qui scripsit Iti-
nerarium anno Xti 1173) Inter Alinozal (ait
p. 62) et Nineven pons tantum intercedjt:
Ha?c devastata est : attamen multos pasos
et ar^es habet.' At vero Haiton Armenius
(De Tartar, c. 11, p. 406) (anno 1300) 1 Ista
civitas tNineve) ad prcesens est totaliter de-
vastata/ Marshami Chron. S^c. xvm.
p. 558. ' Sed per ea, quas adhuc sunt appa-
rrnlia in eadem, firmiter credi potest quod
fuerit una ex nmjoribus civitatibus hujua
inttrtdi.' Idem apud Bochart. Phaleg. 1. 4,
c. 20, col. 255.
' Thcvenot's Travels, part 2, b. 1, c. 11
p. 50. Prideaux's Connect, part 1, b. 1.
Anno 612. Josiah 29.
2 Tavernier in Harris, vol. 2, b. 2, c. 4.
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DISIIOr NEWTON
which hath n swifl ilrcarn «ind whitish water, whereas Euphrates
runs slow and is reddish, you conic to the ancient city Nineveh,
which is now a heap of rubbish only, for a league along the
river, full of vaults and caverns.' Mr. Salmon, who is an in-
dustrious collector and compiler from others, saith in his ac-
conn! of Assyria, 'In this country the famous city of Nineveh
once stood, on the eastern bank of the river Tigris, opposite to
tlie place where Mosul nowslands. There is nothing now to
be seen but. heaps of rubbish, almost a league along the river
Tigris, over against Mosul, which people imagine to be the
remains of ibis vast city.' But it is more than probable that
these ruins are the remains of the Persian Nineveh, and not
of the Assyrian. 'Ipsre periere ruimc :' Even the ruins of old
Nineveh have been, as I may saj r , long ago ruined and de-
stroyed: such an idler end hath been made of it, and such is
the truth of the divine predictions !
This perhaps may strike us the more strongly by supposing
only a parallel instance. Let us then suppose, that a person
should come in the name of a prophet, preaching repentance
to the people of this kingdom, or otherwise denouncing the
destruction of the capital city within a few years : " With an
overrunning flood will God make an utter end of the place
thereof, he will make an utter end ; its place may be sought,
but it shall never be found." I presume we should look upon
such a prophet as a madman, and show no farther attention to
his message than to deride and despise it : and yet such an
event would not be more strange and incredible than the de-
struction and devastation of Nineveh. For Nineveh was much
the larger, and much the stronger, and older city of the two ;
and the Assyrian empire had subsisted and flourished more
ages than any form of government in this country : so that you
cannot object the instability of the eastern monarchies in this
case. Let us then, since this event would not be more impro-
bable and extraordinary than the other, sup|>ose again, that
things should succeed according to the prediction, the floods
should arise, and the enemy should come, the city should be
overflown and broken down, be taken and pillaged, and de-
stroyed so totally, that even the learned could not agree about
the place where it was situated. What would be said 01
thought in such a easel Whoever of posterity should read
and compare the prophecy and event together, must they not
by such an illustrious instance be thoroughly convinced of the
providence of God, and of the truth of his prophet, and be
ready to acknowledge, " Verily this is the word that the Lord
hath spoken, Verily there is a God who judgelh the earth .'"
1 Salmon's Modern Hist. vol. 1, c. 12 : Present State of the Turkish Empire, 4to
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
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X. THE PROPHECIES CONCKUXIKG BABYLON.
AFTER Nineveh was destroyed, Babylon became the queen
. of the east. They were both equally enemies to the peo-
ple of God ; the one subverted the kingdom of Israel, and the
other the kingdom of Jndah; (he one carried away the ten
tribe's, and the other the two remaining tribe's into captivity.
No wonder therefore that, there are several prophecies relating
to each of these cities, and that the fate of Babylon is foretold
as well as of Nineveh. As Jeremiah said, (1. 17, 18,) " Israel is
a scattered sheep, the lions have driven him away ; first, the
king of Assyria hath devoured him, and last this Nebuchad-
nezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones: Therefore thus
sai'h the Lord of hosts the God of Israel, Behold, I will punish
the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king
of Assyria."
Babylon was a very great and very ancient city as well as
Nineveh. It is indeed generally reckoned less than Nineveh ;
for according to Straoo, (who was cited in the last, discourse,)
it was only 385 furlongs in compass, or 3GS) according to 1 Dio-
dorns fMciilus, or £jGS according to Quintus Curtitis : but 2 He-
rodotus, who was an older author than any of them, represents
it, of the same dimensions as Nineveh, that is 480 furlongs, or
above 60 miles in compass; but the difference was, that Nine-
veh was constructed in the form of a parallelogram, and Baby
Ion was an exact square, each side being 120 furlongs in length.
So that according to this account Babylon contained more
ground in it than Nineveh did; for by multiplying the sides
the one by the other, it wiU be found, that Nineveh contained
within its walls only 13,500 furlongs, and that Babylon con-
tained 14,400. It was, too, as ancient, or more ancient than
Nineveh ; for in the words of Moses, speaking of Nimrod,
(Gen. x. 10,) it was "the beginning of his kingdom," that is,
the first city, or the capital city in his dominions. Several
heathen authors say that Semiramis, but most (as 5 Quintus
Curtius asserts) that Belus built it : and Belus was very pro-
bably the same as Nimrod. But whoever was the first founder
of this city, we may reasonably suppose that it received very
great improvements afterwards, and Nebuchadnezzar particu-
1 T\soi£(Sii\ero Tcfyo? r!J k6\ci aradmv rpt- rcrpaKoaiot. Oppidum situm est in planitie in-
ttcofftiiH 1 t^i'/Kovra. coclx stadiorum muro genii, forma quadrata, magnitudine qunquo
urbem rircumdedit. Diod. Sic. 1. 2, c. 7. verms ccntcnum vicenum stadiorum; in
' Toiins opens ambitus ccclxviii stadia xnmma quadringmtorum et octoginta, in
COmplcelitUT.' Quint. Curt. I. 5, c. 1. circuitu quaiwor laterum urbis. Herod. 1. 1,
2 Khrai h Treaty /itydXta, peyaQos eovaa c. 178.
ufrMtev sKttcTov, ttKoci koI iKardv <rrae7u)v, 3 ' Semiramis earn condiderat : vet, tit
hv<rns rcTaayuii'ov ovrot ardSiot rJJ? irspi6$ov plerique crcdiderc, Belus. 5 'Quint. Uurt
R
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BISHOP NEWTON
larly repaired and enlarged, and beautified it lo such a degree,
lhat lie may in a manner be said to have built, it; as he boasted
himself, (Dan. iv. 30:) " Is not. this great Babylon that I have
built for the house of ihc kingdom, by ihc might of my power,
and for the honour of jny majesty 1" Nor is this asserted only
in Scripture, hut is likewise attested by heathen authors, Me-
ir-:s(henes, Berosus, and Abydenus, whose words are quoted
Uv 4 Jor-cphus and Eusebius. By one means or other Babylon
iua'anie so great and famous a "city as to give name to a very
!ai«-e empire: and it is called in Scripture, (Dan. iv. 30,)
"•Treat Babylon ;" (Is. xiii. 19,) "the glory of kingdoms, the
beauty of (lie Chaldecs' excellency ;" (Is. xiv. 4,) " the golden
city;" (Is. xlvii. 5,) the lady of kingdoms;" (Jer. li. 13.)
-abundant in treasures (Jer. li. 41,) "the praise of the
whole earth:" and its beauty, strength, and grandeur; its
walls, temples, palaces, and hanging gardens; the banks of
• lie river, and the artificial canals and lake made for the drain-
ing of that river in t lie seasons of its overflowings, are de-
scribed with such pomp and magnificence by heathen authors,
that it might deservedly be reputed one of the wonders of the
world. The fullest and best account of these things in Eng-
lish is to be found in the second book of that very valuable
and very useful work Dr. Prideaux's Connection. Though
Babylon was seated in a low watery plain, yet in Scripture,
(Jer. li. 25.) it is called a mountain, on account, of the great
height of its walls and towers, its palaces and temples : and
5 Berosus, speaking of some of its buildings, sailh that they ap-
peared most like mountains. Its gales of brass and its broad
mdls are particularly mentioned in Scripture, (Is. xlv. 2; Jer.
li. 58 :) and the city 6 had an hundred gates, 25 on each side,
all made of solid brass : and its walls, according to 7 Herodotus,
were 350 feet in height, and 87 in thickness, and six chariots
could go abreast upon them, as 8 Diodorus affirms after Ctesias.
Such a city as this, one would imagine, was in no danger of
being totally^ abandoned, and coming to nought. Such a city
as this might surely, with less vanity than any other, boast that
she should continue for ever, if any thing human could con-
tinue for ever. So she vainly gloried, (Is. xlvii. 7, 8,) "I shall
be a lady for ever ; I am, and none else beside me ; I shall not
Bit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children." But
t he prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, plainly and particularly fore-
told the destruction of this city. They lived during the do-
* Jnseph. Antiq. 1. 10, c. 11, § 1. Eu-
■<eb. Pra^par, Evan^. 1- 9, c. 41.
Qtiibu-i speciem rledit luotdibus jicrfinnU-m.
Joseph. Aniiq. ibid.
' Horod. I. i. c. 179.
' Herod, ibid. c. 178. Prideaux ibid.
8 "SlfjTl Tti jitv TrJV'irof clvai rdv T£l%C]V ?f
aptiaciv 'ix-aaipov. lit munium latitudo sex
juzia curritm* veheiulis sujficeret. Diod.
"Sic. 1. 2, c. ?
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OX TI1K IMMI'HKCIIW.
131
den-inn of (he kingdom of Jiui.il: : ,-iir! a- limy predicted the
captivity of the Jews, so they Iiki-wi-c foretold llie downfall of
their enemies : and they speak willi Mich a-surance of (lie
event, that I hoy describe a thing future as if it. were already
past. (Is. xxi. !),) "Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the
graven images of her gods lie haih broken unlo Hie ground."
(Jer. li. 8,) "Hahylon is suddenly fallen and de -!ro\ ed ; howl
for her, take halm fur her pain, if so he, she may lie healed."
It. is somewhat remarkable, that one of Isaiah's prophecies con-
cerning Babylon is entitled, (xxi. 1,) "the burden of the desert
of the sea," or rather of the plain of the sea, for Babylon was
seated in a plain, and surrounded by water. The propriety of
the expression consists in this, not only that, any large collec-
tion of waters in the oriental style is called a sea, but also that,
the, places about Hahylon, as 'Abydcnus informs us out of
Megnsthcnes, are said from the Beginning to have been over-
whelmed with waters, and to have been called the sea.
Cyril-;, who was the conqueror of Hahylon, and transferred
the empire from the Babylonians to the Medea and Persians,
was particularly foretold by name, (Is. xliv. 2S ; xlv .1,) above
a hundred years before be was born. lie is honoured with the
appellation of "the Lord's anointed," and the Lord is said to
"have holden his right hand," and to have "girded him,"
(Is. xlv. 1, 5:) and he was raised up to be an instrument of
providence for great purposes, and was certainly a person of
very extraordinary endowments, though we should allow that
Xenophon had a little exceeded the truth, and had drawn his
portrait beyond the reality. It. was promised that he should
be, a great conqueror, should "subdue nations before him,"
(Is. xlv. 1 :) " and I will loose the loins of kings to open before
him the two-leaved gates, and the gates shall not be shut:"
and he subdued several kings, and look several cities, particu-
larly Sanies and Babylon, and extended his 'conquests over
all Asia from the river Indus to the ZEgean sea. It was pro-
mised that he should find great spoil and treasure among the
conquered nations; (Is. xlv. 3,) " I will give thee the treasures
of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places :" and the
riches which Cyrus found in his conquests amounted to a pro-
digious value in 'Pliny's account; nor can we wonder at it,
for those parts of Asia at that time abounded in wealth and
luxury: Babylon had been heaping up treasures for many
years ; and the riches of Crcesus king of Lydia, whom Cyrus
conquered and took prisoner, are in a manner become proverbial.
9 Ktycrm irdvra jxev ^ ap%ns vSup ilvat, Prjep. Evang. I. 9, c. 41.
Bd\acuav KaXtopivjjv. Ferunl, inquit, loca 1 — 'Omnem Asiam ah India usque ad
hax omnia jam inde ab initio aquis obruta j&geum mare. 1 Marshami Chron. Saec.
fuisse t marisque nomine appellata, Euseb. xviii. p. 587. 3 Plin. 1. 33, c. 15.
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BISHOP NEWTON
The time too of the reduction of Babylon was narked out
by the prophet Jeremiah, (xxv. 11,12:) " These nations (thai
is, the Jews and the neighbouring- nations) sliti 11 serve the king
of Babylon seventy years: And it shall come to pass when
seventy vears are accomplished, that I will punish the king of
Balnl.m,' anil that nation, saith the Lord." This prophecy was
delivered, as it appears from the first verse of the chapter, "in
the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that
was the fust year of Nebuchadnezzar king' of Babylon ;" and
from that time there were 3 seventy years to the taking cf Baby-
lon and the restoration of the Jews. Nebuchadnezzar had trans-
planted (lie Jews to Babylon to people and strengthen the place,
and their removal from thence must have weakened it very
much; and after that it was distressed more and more till at
last it was brought to nought.
Several circumstances likewise of the siege and taking of
Babylon were presiguilied by the prophets. It was foretold,
that God would stir up the Modes and Persians against it,
(Is. xxi. 2,) " Go up, O Elam, (that is, Persia, ) besiege, O Me-
dia ;" and (Jer. li. 1 1,) " the Lord hath raised up the spirit of
the kings of the Medes, for his device is against Babylon to
destroy it:" and accordingly it was besieged by the united
forces of the Medes and Persians under the command of Cyrus
the Persian, the nephew and son-in-law of the king of the
Medes. The Medes are chiefly spoken of, as they were at thai
time the superior people. The Jiledes is too a general name for
both nations, and so it is used and applied by several Greek
historians as well as by the sacred writers. Elam 4 was an old
name for Persia, for the name of Persia doth not appear to have
been known in Isaiah's time; Ezekiel is the fast who mentions
it. And Bochart 5 asserts, that the Persians were first so named
from their becoming horsemen in the time of Cyrus, the same
word signifying both a Persian and a horseman. Or if by
Elam we understand the province strictly so called, it is no less
s Sec Prideaux and other chronulo^ers.
A ' J'Jlam est Pur.sis, et cum Media s:Ti-
pius ronjiin«itur. — Persarum nomen, ante
rapiivitatem Rahylonieam, obseurum fuir.
Ezceliie! primus, inter Itellieosas gentcs,
illtiH recenset, (27, 10, & 3S, 5,) "qmim
noitduin irinoiuerant res Cyri. A Cyro
demum natione Persfi, et vicforiis inelylo,
Persarum gloria men-bait.' Marshami
Chron. S:pc. xviii. p. 564.
&i At Pcrsis ipsis nomen fuit ab etpii-
tatit, tpta maxime valebant, eqnilare a te-
peris edocti. — Clua (amen disciplina pri-
mus ilios imbuit Cyrus. — Itaque ex lam
repentina mutatione factum, ut tnre re<rio
BID Paras, et incola? ^nd-ic Pcr.Kc diceren-
tur, id est, equites. Arabice enim d"id
l'haras est equus, et D^NS Pilaris eques (ut
Hebraice ty->c Puma) Porro vox eadrm
Pharis etiani Persam signincat. Inde est,
quod nequu Mosos, nec libri Regtun, nee
Esaias ant Jercmias, Persarum meminu-
runt, necpte quisqtiam eorum, qui vixerunt
ante Cyrtim. A; in Danieleet Ezechieio,
Cyro coa:vis, et in libris Paralipomerton,
et Esdne, el Nehemi;p, et Esther, &e. qui
)iost Cyrum scripti sunt, Persarum est
freqttens inentio. Antea verisimiie est
llebra-a noinina rvo Chut et Elan
ma»nam Persidis partem inclusisse.' Bo-
eliarli P)iale s . I, 4, e. 10, col. 224.
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
133
true that, this a 1-0, though subject In Bnhvlon, ro«c up against,
it, ami upon tin' following orr-is'o't. Ahradates 6 was viceroy
or <rovernor of Wusa or Rhushan, and Sh''shan was the capital
of tin' province of Elam, (Dan. viii. 2.) I lis wife Panthea,
a I'ulv of exquisite boautv, happened to ha taken prisoner hv tin;
I'l'i^ians. Cyrus treated her will: siii-| i generosity, and pre-
served her with such strict. honour, safe, and inviolate for her
husband, as won tin; heart, of the prince, so I hat ho and his
forces revolted to Cyrus, and fought in his army against the
Babylonians.
It. was foretold, that various nations should unite against
Babylon, (ls:i. xiii. 4;) "The noise of a multitude in the moun-
tains, like as of a grout people; a tumultuous noise of (he king-
doms of nations gathered together; the Lord of hosts mustereth
the host, of the battle:" and particularly it, was foretold, that
the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Aschenaz, that is (lie Ar-
menians, 7 Phrygians, and other nations should compose part of
his army, (Jer. li. 27 ;) "Set. ye up a standard in the land, blow
the trumpet, among the nations, prepare the nations against her.
call together against, her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and
A-hehenaz :" and accordingly Cyrus's army consisted of va-
rious nations; and among them were these, very people, 8 whom
lie had conquered before, and no w obliged to attend him in this
expedition.
It was foretold, that the Babylonians should be terrified, and
hide themselves within their walls, (Jer. li. 30 ;) "The mighty
men of Babylon have forborne to fight, they have remained in
their holds, their might hath failed, they became as women :"
and accordingly the Babylonians, after the loss of a battle or
t wo, never recovered their courage to face the enemy in the field
again; they retired within their walls, and the 9 first time that
Cyrus came with his army before the plare, he could not pro-
voke them to venture forth and try the fortune, of arms, even
though he sent a challenge to the kimr to fitrht a duel with
him; and the 1 last time that he came, he consulted with his,
officers about, the best method of carrying on the siege, "since
snith he, they do not come forth and fight."
It was foretold, that the river should be dried up, before the
city should be taken ; which was very unlikely ever to happen, 3
the river being more than two furlongs broad, and deeper than
c Xi-noph. Cyropied. I. 4 — 7.
" Vide B'jch'arti Phale<>. 1. i. c. 3, col. 16
et col. 20; 1.3, c. 9, col. 174.
B Xi nouh. C vropaed. I. 5, c. 3, 5 33, et 1. 7,
c. 5, 5 1-4.
• Xeni>|ih. Cyropscd. 1. 5, c. 3, § 5.
1 V.I. 1. 7, c. 5, § 7. 'ETtfuo ov pa^oi-Tal
f£(fji'rr?. Quia fid pm?nan/hi.m mm vxnml.
2 Xfiiop'i. Cyrojwd, 1. 7, c. o, § S.
12
(3d9o$ yt wj ttvc uv cvo uirpec b f'reoof f ~? too
irtpov torrjictog rov v'aros v~cpi^uttv ' wffrf rt3
"KOT'tfJ^t £TI IG^VOOTlO't (CTTtf f) ~6\tirj TOtC, T£i-
[Fliuniiiif] latittiffo tst plus (fUnin ad
duo stadia : ct profit ndiUis tanta ut nr duo
qni'lem viri alter xitjrT alterum xtnn/cs supra
afu't/n erninrant. Ittvpic urbs valirfior est
Jfumiite '[uain muri.s.
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13 i
BISHOP NEWTON
two men standing oik; upon another, so that tiic city Wild
thought in 1»' si longer anil better forlilied by (lie river than by
the walls; but yet. (be prophets predicted thai, the waters
should be dried up, (Isa, xliv. 27;) " Thiil. saitli to the deep, Ik
di\, and I will dry up (by rivers;" (.Jer. I. 38.) "A drought is
upon her waters, and they shall be dried up;" (Jer. H. 3(i.)
" I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry:" ami ac-
cordingly Cyrus 3 turned (be course of the river Euphrates which
ran ihrou»h the midst of Babylon, and by means of deep
lieiirbes and the canals and lake before mentioned, so drained
the waters that (he river became easily lorduble lor his soldiers
lo enter the city; and by these means Babylon was taken,
which was otherwise impregnable, and was supplied willi
provisions for very many years, saith Herodotus, 4 for more
than twenty years, saith Xenophon ; or as Herodotus 5 saith, if
the Babylonians bad but .known what the Persians were doing,
by shutting (lie gales which opened to the river, and by stand-
ing upon the walls which were built as banks, they might have
taken and destroyed the Persians as in a net or cage.
It was foretold, that the city should be taken by surprise
during the time of a feast, (Jer. I. 24,) "I have laid a snare for
thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not
aware, thou art found and also caught ;" (li. 39,) " In their heat
I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that
they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake,
saiili the Lord;" (li. 57,) "And I will make drunk her princes,
and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty
men, and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith
the king, whose name is (he Lord of hosls:" and accordingly
the city 6 was taken in the night of a great annual festival, while
the inhabitants were dancing, drinking, and revelling ; and as
Aristotle 7 reports, it had been taken three days, before some
part of the city perceived it; but Ilerodotus's 8 account is more
5 ITt-rnd. \. 1, c. 191. Xcnoplmn. Cjro-
pipil. I. 7, r. 5, § 15.
1 Ilt rml. I. 1, <:. 190. TJootnd^arro nma
iT(u)v Kiiiirn ruWui', Vnaipartaeerant per
■titiiltunim imn/irtlm rtimmniftis. Xt'liiiph. <lv-
rnp:i'il. I. 7, i\ 5. ^ \'X "Evorrcs rd iTtrrr
t' eta jtA/mii j) uKf/eiy tVup. f ft qui re.it mcts-
sarins haherent plus tiviwi viirittli annnrnm.
' J 1 1 i*i i it I . I. 1, e.. 191. Ei [iff i'vv rr^'icTu-
Ouvto, r) qinOin o't Ru/iu^i5rini to ik rtiT< Kvuov
~otti''i*Lvov, ovk uv, vtm'ifavTts rows Tlfoaas
ihlXOlIv tU ri/v t6\cv, biitjtQcLotut KaKtfrra.
KuTuK^riiOavTts yac uv Tairiis T-^is is rdt' ITOTtX-
pbvtruMoui iviitliras, mil uirui iri r/ls ntpatriaf
aVIlGliVTC? TUs" TT«pil TU %ll\c(t TOO TTDTdfiOU l\\j;-
Aitfjfvaf, c^uGov av oipcus ws iv KitoTn. fyn(M
flntnil'rnii, si factum Cipi priun ant tmdissent
aut 3ensisst'nt, ingrcdi nan jtermisissent, .left
vessimo exitio aJfccisscuL, Nam abscratis <>/a~
vilais lyi/ip ad jlirmen fcrunt porlulis, cmiscen-
sisque ftrjittAj ipsi pro ripis sltiul.ru Mas pro*
gravtas veiuti in cavea cjxi pisscul.
0 Herod. I.l,c.l91. Xciiopli. Cyropoed.
I. 7, f. 5, § 15.
7 Arist. l'ul't. 1. 3, c. 3. T Ef yi t/iuotv la-
XuKutu? roiTtjv fyifpav, ovk alcOtaOm rt ptpos
ri/s xiSXtws. tyua ffrlium jam diem capiat
partem quandam urbis nan sensisse dieunt.
11 Hi-mil. I. 1, c. 191. 'X-rtb it usydOcos T?f
Tr^Xio;, ws \tytrat vttq T&v tuvtii olKnpfvtav t
twv TTrpi Tri to^HTa r/jff :r<iXtus hi\wk6tujv,
roiif to utuov oin/ovras twv Ba&oktavttav, oi>
pnvOavitv ia\it}K6ras- Tuntaaue urhis erat
magmtudo, ut (rniematlsiotltim norrant ac-
cal(r) tjintm. capti tsscnt iywi extretnas urbis
partes inralebant, ii. qui viediam urbem inco-
Itrent id nescire.nt.
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
135
modest anil probable, llial. the extreme pari-: of ! lie wen; in
the hands of ( I u; enemy before I hey who dwelt in the middle of
it. knew any tiling of (heir danger. The-e were exlraordinary
oceiirreiiees in I he Inking of tiiiseiiy: and Imw could any man
foresee and foretell such singular events, such remarkable circum-
slauces, without revelation and inspiralion of God.'
Bui these events yon may possibly think too remote in time
to be urged in the present argument: and yet the prophecies
were delivered by Isaiah and Jeremiah, and (he fads are related
by no less historians than Herodotus and Xenophon ; and
Isaiah lived above 250 years before Herodotus, and near 3.30
before Xenophon, and Jeremiah lived above 150 years before
the one and near 250 before the other. Cyrus took Babylon,
according to Prideaux, in the year 539 before Christ. Isaiah
prophesied "in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Ileze-
kiah, kings of Jiulah," (Isa. i. 1,) which was at least. 1G0 years
before (he Inking of Babylon, for Ilezekiah died in the year G99
be I ore Christ. Jeremiah sent his prophecies concerning Baby-
lon lo Babylon by (he hands of Seraiab, "in the fourth year of
the reign of Zedekiah," (Jer. li. 5!),) which was 50 years before
the Inking of Babylon, for the fourth year of Zedekiah coin-
cides with the year 595 before Christ. There is therefore no
room for skepticism: but if you are still disposed to doubt anu
hesitate, what, then think you of the present condition of the
place? Could the prophets, unless they were prophets indeed,
have foreseen and foretold what that would be so many ages
afterwards 1 And yet they have expressly foretold that it should
be reduced to desolation. Isaiah is very strong and poetical,
(xiii. 19, &c.) "Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty
of the Chalde.es' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew
Sodom and Gomorrah : It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it
be dwelt in from generation to generation; neither shall the Ara-
bian pitch tent there, neither shall the shepherds make then-
fold there: but wild beasts of the desert shall lie there, and
their houses shall be full of doleful creatures, and owls shall
dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there ; and the wild beasts
of the island shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in
their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her
days shall not. be prolonged." Again, (xiv. 22, 23,) " I will rise
up against them, saith the Lord of hosts, and cut off from Baby-
lon the name, and remnant, and son and nephew, (or rather, son
and grandson,) saith the Lord : I will also make it a possession
for the bittern, and pools of water; and I will sweep it with the
besom of destruction, saith the Lord of hosts." Jeremiah speak
eth much in the same strain, (I. 13, 23, 39, 40:) "Because
of the wrath of the Lord, it shall not be inhabited, but it shall
be wholly desolate ; everyone that goeth by Babylon shall be
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136
BISHOP NEWTON
nsloni-hed, and hiss at nil her plagues: how is (lie hammer of
the whole earth cut. asunder and broken? how is Babylon be-
come a desolation among the nations? Therefore the wild beasts
of the desert, with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell
their, and the owls shall dwell therein; and it shall be no more
inhabited lor ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation
to evneration : as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and
the neighbour cities I hereof, saith the Lord ; so no man shall
idiide there, neither shall any son of man. dwell therein." Again,
(li. 13, 26, 2!), 37, 42, 43,) "O thou that dwellest upon many
waters, abundant in treasures; thine end is come, and the mea-
sure of thy covelousncss: and they shall not take of thee a
stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou sha.lt
be desolate forever, sailh the Lord: and the land shall tremble
and sorrow, for every purpose of the Lord shall be performed
against. Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation
without, an inhabitant: and Babylon shall become heaps, a
dwelling place for dragons, an astonishment and an hissing
without an inhabitant: the sea is come upon Babylon; she
is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof: her cities
are a desolation, a dry land and a wilderness, a land wherein no
man dwelleth, neither doth any T son of man pass thereby 7 ." We
shall see how these and other prophecies have by degrees been
accomplished, for in the nature of the things they could not be
fulfilled all at once. But as the prophets often speak of things
future, as if they were already cflected ; so they speak often of
thine- us be brought about in process of time, as if they were to
succeed immediately?; past, present, and to come, being all alike
known to an infinite mind, and the intermediate time not reveal-
ed perhaps to the minds of the prophets.
Isaiah addresseth Babylon by the name of a virgin, as hav-
ing never before been taken by any enemy, (Is. xlvii. 1 :)
" Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Baby-
lon, sit on the ground:" and 9 Herodotus saith expressly, that
this was the first time that Babylon was taken. After this it
never more recovered its ancient splendour ; from an imperial,
it became a tributary city; from being governed by its own
king-, and governing strangers, it became itself to be governed
by si rangers ; and the seat of empire being transferred to Sliu-
shan, it decayed by degrees, till it was reduced at last to utter
desolation. Berosus in Joscphus 1 saith, that when Cyrus had
taken Babylon, he ordered the outer walls to be pulled down,
9 Kat Bl6uA£>y j.th' ovtu ro<orov apttiorjTQ.
At'[ue Ha prima cuptfie-H Bahulmi. Herod.
1. 1, v, Mil.
w'it, ctu rd Xiav civrT; iro iyprirtKtiv k ti Ou-
ovAwrov (pavijvai r\)v k&\iv Cyrus autem,
Rnhylone capla^ constituloque exteriora ejus
inutiimettta tliru.ere i quod civitatem videret ad
res novas ivohite/n i urhem vent expugnatu dif-
Jkitun, — Comra Apion. L. 1, § 22.
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ON TI IE PiinpiIECIES 137
because the city appeared to him very far) ions and difficult to
he taken. And * Xenophon M*r- >ri»i-s us, t!i;i.t Cyrus obliged the
Babylonians to deliver up all their arms upon pain of death, dis-
tributed their best, houses among- liis officers, imposed a tribute
upon them, appointed a strong garrison, and compelled the Ba-
bylonians to defray the charge, being desirous to keep them poor
as the best means of keeping them obedient.
But. notwithstanding these precautions, 3 they rebelled against
Darius, and in order to hold out to the last extremity, lliey
look all their women, and each man choosing one of (hem,
out of those of Ins own family, whom he liked best, they stran-
gled the rest, that unnecessary mouths might, not, consume their
provisions. "And hereby," saith 4 Dr. Prideaux, " was very sig-
nally fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah against them, in which
he foretold, (chap, xlvii. 9,) 'That, two things should come to
them in a moment, in one day, the loss of children and widow-
hood, and that these shall come upon them in their perfection,
for the multitude of their forces, and the great abundance of their
enchantments.' And in what greater perfection could these
calamities come upon them, than when they themselves thus
upon themselves became the executioners of them V Or rather,
this prophecy was then fulfilled a second time, having been
fulfilled before, the very night, that Babylon was taken, when
the Persians slew the king himself, and a great number of the
Babylonians. They sustained the seige and all the effort h of
Darius for twenty months, and at length the city was taken by
stratagem. As soon as Darius had made himself master of the
place, he ordered three thousand of the principal men to be cru-
cified, and thereby fulfilled the prophecies of the cruelty which
the Medes and Persians should use towards the Babylonians,
(Is. xiii. 17, 18; Jer. 1.42;) and he likewise demolished the
wall, and took away the gates, neither of which, saith 5 Hero-
dotus, had Cyrus done before. But either Herodotus, or Be-
rosus must have been mistaken ; or we must suppose that
Cyrus's orders were never carried into execution; or we must
understand Herodotus to speak of the inner wall, as Berosus
spoke of the outer : and yet it doth not seem very credible,
when the walls were of that prodigious height and thickness,
that there should be an inner and an outer wall too ; and much
less that there should be three inner and three outer walls, as
Berosus affirms. 6 Herodotus computes the height of the wall
"Xenoph. Cyropied. 1. 7, c. 5, § 34, 36,
et 69.
3 Herod. 1. 3, c. 150, &c.
3 Prid. Connect. Part. l,b. 3, Anno 517.
Darius 5.
tdtras aftiaxaat' t& yap irpdrtpov i\Civ Kvpos
12*
rijv Baf>uAt3i"T, fco!rjac rovrluiv ov^iteouv.
3fttros cimimcidit, ct pOrtaS o/tinrn nut Kitns
est: quorum neutmm Cyrus fin fit p>'ius
eidem a -tp mptce. Herod. I. o, c. 15D.
6 'Yx€pt:ftd\ET0 Tpn? [*tv rr)c h £ui> ■ 6-
nos quidem interiori urbi tcntnsyue parity
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13S
BISHOP NEWTON
to ho 200 cubits ;' but Inter authors reckon it much lower,
6 Quintus Curlius at 1 00, 8 St rabo, who is a ir.ore exact writer, at
50 cubits. Herodotus describes it as it was originally; and
we niiiv conclude therefore that L 4 a tins reduced it. from 200 to
50 cubits; and by thus Inking down the wall and destroying
the gales he remarkably fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah,
(!i. 58:) "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, The broad walls of
Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be
burnt with lire."
Xerxes, 1 after his return from his unfortunate expedition
into Greece, partly out of religious zeal, being a professed enemy
to image worship, and partly to reimburse himself after his
immense expenses, seized the sacred treasures, and plundered
or destroyed the temples and idols of Babylon, thereby accom-
plishing the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah, (Isaiah xxi. 9,)
" Babylon is fallen, is fallen ; and all the graven images of her
gods iie hath broken unto the ground:" (Isa. xlvi. !,) "Bel
howeth down, Nebo stoopeth, their idols were upon the beasts,
and upon the cattle, &c." (Jer. 1. 2,) " Babylon is taken, Bel
is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces, her idols are
confounded, her images are broken in pieces :" (Jer. li. 44, 47,
52,) "And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring
forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up :
Therefore behold the days come, that I will do judgment upon
the graven images of Babylon;" and again, "Wherefore behold
the days come, saith the Lord, that I will do judgment upon
her graven images." What God declares, " I will punish Bel
in Babylon and I will bring forth that which he hath swal-
lowed," was also literally fulfilled, when the vessels of the
house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought from Jeru-
salem, and plar.ed in the temple of Bel, (Dan. i. 2,) were re-
stored by order of Cyrus, (Ezra i. 7,) and carried to Jerusalem
again.
Such was the state of Babylon under the Persians. When
Alexander came thither, though 2 Quintus Curtius says that
the whole circuit of the city was 368 furlongs, yet he affirms
that otdy for the space of 90 furlongs it was inhabited. The
river Euphrates having been turned out of its course by Cyrus,
and never afterwards restored to its former channel, " all that
ertenon muTorum amhitus circiimdedit.—
Apud Joseph, contra Apion. 1. 1. § 19.
' *Yd.n< iir)K0ai<jiv ri/^fuii'. Cubitorvm du-
centorum cclmiudine. Herod, t. 1. c. 178.
8 Allitudo rniri c cubitorum eminet spatio.'
Quint. Curt. I. 5. c. I.
vtvTfjKavra. jiltitudine inter turres cubilo-
Hm l. Strabo, 1. 16, p. 1072.
■Herod. 1. I, c. 183. Arrian de Exped.
Alex. 1. 7. c. 17. Usher's Annals, A. M,
3526. p. 129. Prideaux Connect. Part 1.
b. 4, Anno 479. Xerxes 7.
2 Quintus Curtius, 1. 5, c. 1. ' Ac ne totam
quidem urbem tectis occupaverunt ; per
xc stadia habitatur ; nec omnia conlinua
sunt.'
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ON THE PROPHECIES,
133
side of the country was Hooded h\ it.. Alexander, 3 indeed,
purposed to have made Bahylon 1 lie? scat, of Ins empire, and
ftchmllv set men at work to rebuild the temple of Bolus, and to
repair the hanks of the river, and to brio**" baric the waters again
into their old channel: and if his designs had taken eifeet, how
could I ho prophecies have been fulfilled? and what providence
therefore was it, that his designs did not take eliect, anil that
the breaches were never repaired ? He met with some diilii-uhie.s
in the work, and death soon after put an end to this and all his
other projects; and none of his successors ever attempted it:
and 4 Seleucia being built a few years afterwards in (he neigh-
bourhood, Babylon in a little time became "wholly desolate."
Seleucia not only robbed it of its inhabitants, but even of its
name, being called also 5 Bahylon by several others. We learn
farther from a fragment of Diodorus Siculus, which is produced
by Valesius, and quoted from him 6 by Vkringa, that a king of
Partlna, or one of his peers, surpassing all the famous tyrants
in cruelty, omitted no sort of punishment, but sent many of the
Babylonians and for trifling causes into slavery, and burnt the
forum and some of the temples of Babylon, and demolished the
best parts of the city. This happened about 130 years before
Christ. : and now let us see what account is given of Babylon
by authors after that time.
Diodorus Siculus 7 describes the buildings as ruined or de-
cayed in his time, and asserts that now only a small part of
the city is inhabited, the greatest part within the walls is tilled.
Su a bo 8 who wrote not long after Diodorus, saith that part
3 Arian. <le Exped. Alex. I. 7, c. 17, et
c. 21. Hucaheus apud Joseph, cunf ra
Apimi. 1. 1, § 22, p. 1348. Sirabo, 1. 16, p.
10713.
4 Sirabo, ibid. Plinii Nat. Hist. I. 6, c.
30.
s Plin. ibid. ( Qunn tamen Babylonia cost
nominatnr. 1 See Prideaux Connect. Part
1, b. 3, Anno 293. Ptolemy Soter. 12.
G Vitnnjj. Comment, in Iesaiam, c. 13, p.
421, vol. 1. * EiijJ/iepos h rwv WapBuiv {Satn-
Xsvs k- t. X. ICverncru.% Parlhorum rer, (do-
ctiit Valesius rlarissime quod eruditi viri lu-
benter admiserunt, legendum esse H'mcrum,
Parthurnm regis satrapam, ex circumstantiis
temporis historic, et rollatis locisJustini ac
Athen;ri,) patria Hyrcanus, cunctos tyrannos
acerbitate vincens, nullum sarvitia genu* prce-
termisit. Plurimos enim Babylonios levibus
de. caus.ds servituti addictos t cum omni /ami"
lia in JSfedinm distrakendos misit. Forum
qucque et nonnulla delubra Babylonia igid
tradiditf ac pulcherrima quaque urbis loca
evertit. Accidit casus stante regno Seleuci-
darum, annis admodum exxx ante JE. V.
naii Domini.*
c Twi/ et pocAefftJv R(tl T<av aXXmv Karaa-
K€Va<THttTb)V h Xfifil'OS Tit fl€V b\"CT^TCU}\ ijAnvt-
ff£, Tii 6 tXvfJtijVaTO. Kal ytio avrrig "Btd'wXw-
vog vvv fiaavv ti peons oi^inu, ~d *e nXiierov
fvrd>; ru^wi yi>op-/£(Tai. Rcgiuayite ft flUtlS
structuras partiih twnpus omttino a/WevrA
parti m corrupit, JSfntn et ipsiu* Bel glottis
exigua qna'datn portio nunc hwdtatur, vtaxv-
maque intra mums pars agrorum cid'.ui est
exposita. Diod. Sic. 1. 2, c. 9.
a , — , icarrjotxpav tJjj r^Xccuf, rtl
ptv ol n/pirni, to. 5* b xpovos K(l ' h T & v Mazes
Sdvtav dXtywpta ircpt ra rouivra' kui [saXicra
eztibt) rt)v 'ZeXtvKetav tiri r<T> Tiyprjrt wXijelo*
7% Ba^uXtSvoffv rpiaicofftots iron urnhiais erri-
X i<Jt ^.i\tvKo<; h XtKartop. Kfli yap fnzti>o<; K<it
ol utr ahrbv a-rnvres rrtpJ Tavrrjv iu~6v^aaa.
Tiiv n6\iv 7 kui rb $uffl\uov tvravOa ficrtjVEyKav*
Kal Srj Kal vvv $ utv ytyovi haftvX&vos uz't-
fyov ff 5' ep'ijios h TToXXi)' ws' fV avrng pf) H»
OKVtjaat Tiva efrreiv o^ep ti$ t&v tcia/j ikw»
fut twv MfyaXoTToXirwr Tiic tv A.pKabta y
'Bp^fa peydhn IqtXv »/ iilsydXrj TrtiXts,
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110 i;i.<Ii(!P NKVv'TON
of the ,-;>\ the IVi-iaus «!•-> Molt.^lirtl, and pari, lime and the
)!,...!,., ( I],,. ?,]:ic>';'i!ii!:i:i -, and especially after Seleucus
Ni.-i'.']- built S.-leucia en the Tigris in I lie neighbourhood
,»(■ i; ,•,•.•:.••!, iintl he and his f.-:u'(v-.-ors removed their court
thi-la-:-: ;•>. | now (-abb lie) So!< u<-ia is greater than Babylon,,
(••, ! !?.-!.% lou is much deserted, so that coo may apply to this
v.h-ti I lie comic port said of Megalopolis iii Arcadia, the great
,"'/ ;.- it' i'" hirome a girat Dvmrf. Pliny 9 in like manner
.liiirm--, dial ii was reduced to soli! ode, being exhausted by the
nridihourhood of Seleucin, built for that purpose by Seleucus
>."!;•;,' ;r. As Straho compared Babylon to Megalopolis, 1 so
Pau--a:iias who lluurbhod about the middle of the second ecn-
lurv after Christ, compare* Megalopolis to Babylon, and says
in hi- A readies, that of Babylon, the greatest, city that the suit
ever saw, there is nothing now remaining but the walls. Maxi-
mum Tvrius 2 mentions it as lying neglected and forsaken ,
and Lucian 3 intimates, (hat. in a little lime it would he sought
for and ir.it be found, like Nineveh. Constantino the Great,
in on oration preserved by Eusebms, saitb that he himself was
upon the spot, and an eye-witness of the desolate and miserable
condition of (lie city. In Jerome's time, (who lived in the fourth
century after Christ,) it was converted into a chase to keep wild
beasts within the compass of its walls for the hunting of the lat-
ter kin ;rs of Persia. 4 We have learned, saith he, from a certain
Elamite brother, who coining out of those parts, now liveth as a
monk at Jerusalem, that the royal huntings are in Babylon, and
wild beasts of every kind are confined within the circuit of its
Walls. And a little afterwards he saith, 5 that excepting the brick
walls, which after many years are repaired for the inclosing of
wild beasts, all the space within is desolation. These walls
might probably be demolished by the Saracens who subverted
this empire of the Persians, or they might be ruined or de-
— Kt urhis partem Pcrscc diruerunt,partcm
trmpus coasnmpfd ct ]\faccdonnm ncirli^en-
ti': : prmertim pattquam Sclcucus Nicator
Srlcuciam ad Tizritn candidit stadiis tantum
crt: ti Htihfilonp. dissitam. JVam ct Hie ct pas*
tsr* amue* htic vrhi maxiniapire sluducrunt,
ct rcjiam ro trunslulfrunt j ct nunc Bahi/tone
l/rfc ma air **t. r ill'i mn'jtun cx parte descrta ; ut
intrepid? df fa wturprtri passit, qvnd lie JV/V>—
pillfrpnli Arcadia: magna urbe quidam dixit
(Jti mints,
Kxt ma'sna solittida nunc ^Icgfdapolis.
StrnlM, I. 16, |i. 1073.
C'-i'-ni i niflinrm re'lnt exbausfa
virini'ni' 1 Rt.'!'Miri:p, oh id conditat a Nica-
tore.' Pliii. Nat, Hist. 1. 6. r. 30.
' B<7/?i'^wv«5 ?i ratiTT/s, rjv Tivn ijc.c rtfAcwv
TiTiv rdrc yiylmr\v 17^10?, ovfiiv crt iff d jiff rtt-
%<it. Babylon omnium, quos unquam sal us-
pcxit, urlihim maxima, jam viliil prrrter mu-
ros relirp/i hahct. Paitsan, 1. 8, c ;!3.
2 Ba0v\&vos Knpivns. Max. Tyr. Dis-
sert. G. prupu linem.
3 Oil furii ttoXi/ lent avrq £j/rt;9t7i7^/tr/,
Sffircp fj Ntfoj. Hand ita mirfta post desidcrun-
da ct ipsa, quemadmadum nunc Ninas. L1.1-
cian, 'Etrtff<. sive contetnplanlcs prope fin.
4 'Didicimus a quodam fratre Etamila, qui
de illis finibus egrediens, nunc Hierosolymis
vilam exisit monachorum, veriationt'S regias
esse in Babylone ; et omnis generis be: iias
murnrum ejus tamen ambitu ruerceri.'
Hieronym. Comment, in Isai. c. \
5 ' Exceptis enim mnris coctilibus qui
propter beslias concludendas post annns
pltirimos instaurantur, omne in medio spa-
tiurn solitudo est.' Id. in c. 14.
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D.\ THE Pli'tPflECIEfl. Ill
siroyed I>v tinio : but of Ihis we read nothing, neither have \vs
any ncroiiiit of Babylon for several hundred years n.fl<:nvnnl.-»,
there having been such a dearth of authors dming those limes
of ignorance.
Ol' Inter authors (lie first who mentions jniv thing concerning
Babylon is Benjamin of Tudeln, a Jew who live I in ihe i well'. ii
ceieiiry. In his Iiinorary, whieh was written almost. ?!;:) years
ago, he asserts, 6 (hat ancient Babylon is now laid was;e, but
some ruins arc still to be seen of Nebuchadnezzar's, palace, and
men fear to enter there on account of the serpents and scor-
pions which arc in the midst, of it. Texeira, a Portuguese, in
the description of his travels from India to Italy, affirms 7 (hat
of this grout and famous city there is nothing but only a few
vestiges remaining, nor in the whole region is any place less
frequented.
A German traveller, whose name was Ramvolf, passed that,
way in the year of our Lord 1.574, 8 and his account of the ruins
of this famous city is as follows: 'The village of Elugo, now
lieih on the place where formerly old Babylon, the metropolis
of Chnlda;a, was situated. The harbour is a quarter of a league's)
distance from it, where, people gr> ashore in order to proceed by
land to the celebrated city of Bagdaf, which is a day and a
half's journey from thence eastward on the Tigris. This coun-
try is so dry and barren that it cannot be tilled, and so bare that
1 could never have believed that this powerful city, once the
most stately and renowned in all the world, and situated in
the pleasant and fruitful country of Shinar, could have ever
stood there, if I had not known it by its situation, and many
antiquities of great beauty, which are still standing here about
in great, desolation. First by the old bridge which was laid
over the Euphrates, whereof there are some pieces and arches
still remaining built of burnt brick, and so strong that it is ad-
mirable. — Just before the village of Elugo is the hill whereon
the castle stood, and the ruins of its fortifications are still visible,
though demolished and uninhabited. Behind it, and pretty
near to it, did stand the tower of Babylon. It is still to be
seen, and is half a league in diameter; but so ruinous, so
low, and so full of venomous creatures, which lodge in holes
made by them in the rubbish, that no one durst approach
nearer to it than within half a league, except during two
0 Benjamin. Itin. p. 76, — ' Eoque ho-
mines ingredi verentur, propter serpentes
et scorpiones, qui sunt in medio ejus.'
Bocharti Phalccr. 1. 4, c. 15, col. 234.
Vitringa in lesaiam, c. 13, p. 421, vol. 1.
Prideaux Connect, part 1, b. 8, Anno
293. Ptolemy Soter, 12. Calmet's Diet, in
Babylon,
' Cap. 5, ' Hujus nihil nisi pauca super-
sunt vestigia : nec in tola regiuue locus
ullus est minus Irequens.' Bouhart. ibid,
et Prideaux.
6 Calmet's Diet, in Babylon, and Prideaux
as before, and Ray's edition of these travels
in English, part 2, c. 7.
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112
BISHOP NEWTON
months in the winter, when these animals never stir out of
tlieiv hole-:. There is one sort, particularly, which (lie inhabi-
tants, in i In- language of (lie country, which is Persian, call Eglo,
the |>,sw:>n whereof is very searching: they are larger than our
lizard-.'
A nohlc Romnn, Petrus Vallensis, (Delia Valle,) was at Bag-
dal in the year 1616, and went lo see the ruins, as they are
thought, of ancient. Babylon j and he informs ns 9 that 'in the
middle of a vast and level plain, about a quarter of a league from
Euphrates, which in that place runs westward, appears a heap
of ruined buildings, like a huge mountain, the materials of
which are so confounded together, that one knows not what
to make of it. — Its situation and form correspond with that,
pyramid which Strabo calls the tower of Belus; and is in all
likelihood the tower of Nimrod in Babylon, or Babel, as that,
place is still called. — There appear no marks of ruins, without
the compass of that huge mass, to convince one so great a city
as Babylon had ever stood there : all one discovers within Mty
or sixty paces of it, being only the remains here and there of
some foundations of buildings ; and the country round about
it. so fiat and level that one can hardly believe it should be
chosen for the situation of so great and noble a city as Babylon,
or that there were ever any remarkable buildings on it: but for
my part I am astonished there appears so much as there does,
considering it as at least four thousand years since that city was
built, and that Diodorus Siculus tells us, it was reduced almost
to nothing in his time.'
Tavcrnier, who is a very celebrated traveller, relates, 1 that
' at the parting of the Tigris, which is but a little way from
Bagdat, there is the foundation of a city, which may seem to have
been a large league in compass. There are some of the walls
yet standing, upon which six coaches may go abreast: They
are made of burnt brick, ten feet square and three thick. The
chronicles of the country say here stood the ancient Babylon.'
Tavernicr, no doubt, saw the same ruins, as Benjamin the Jew,
and Rauwolf, and Peter della Valle did ; but he thought them
not to be the ruins of Nebuchadnezzar's palace or of the tower of
Babel. He adopts the opinion of the Arabs, and conceives them
to be rather the remains of some tower built by one of their
princes for a beacon to assemble his subjects in time of war :
and this in all probability was the truth of the matter.
Mr. Salmon's 2 observation is just and pertinent : ' What is
as strange as any thing that is related of Babylon is, that we
»Vid. Viaggi di Pietro delta Valle, c. 2, § 4, note N.
part 2, Epist. 17. Clerici Comment, in 1 Tavernier in Harris, vol. 2, b. 2, c. 5.
Esaiam, c. 13, v. 20. Vitring. Comment. = Salmon's Modern Hist. vol. 1 : Present
tbiii p. 421, vol. 1. Universal History, b, 1, State of the Turkish Empire, c. 11.
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
1 13
cannot, learn Oilier !>y aneient writers or modern fra vellers,
where this (anions city stood, only in general, that it was situ-
ated in the province of Chalda:a, upon the river Euphrates,
consideralily above the place where it is united with the Tiff lis.
Travellers have ffuessed from the ffreat ruins they have dis-
covered in several parts of this country, lhat in this or that
place Babylon once stood: but when we come to examine
nicely the places they mention, we only learn I lint they are cer-
tainly in the wrong, and have mistaken the ruins of Srelcucia,
or some other great town.'
Mr. Han way 3 going to give an account of the scigo of Bng-
dat by Nadir Shah, preface! h it in this manner. 'Before we
enter upon any circumstance relating to the siege of Bngdaf,
it may afford some light to the subject, to give a short account
of this famous city, in the neighbourhood of which formerly
stood the metropolis of one of the most ancient and most, potent
monarchies in the world. The place is generally called Bagdat
or Bagdad, though sonic writers preserve the ancient name of
Babylon. The reason of thus confounding these two cities is,
that the Tigris and Euphrates, forming one common stream
before they disembogue into the Persian gulf, are not unfrc-
quently mentioned as one and (he same river. It is certain that
the present Bagdat is situated on the Tigris, but the ancient
Babylon, according to all historians sacred and profane, was
on (lie Euphrates. The ruins of the latter, which geographical
writers place about fifteen leagues to the south of Bagdat,
are now so much effaced, that there are hardly any vestiges
of them to point out the situation. In the time of the emperor
Theodosius, there was only a great park remaining, in which
the kings of Persia bred wild beasts for the amusement of
hunting.
By these accounts we see, how punctually time hath fulfilled
the predictions of the prophets concerning Babylon. When
it was converted into a chas:e for wild beasts to feed and breed
there, then were exactly accomplished the words of the pro-
phets, that " the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts
of the islands should dwell there, and cry in their desolate
houses." One part of the country was overflowed by the river's
haying been turned out of its course and never restored again
to its former channel, and thence became boggy and marshy,
so that it might literally be said to be " a possession for
the bittern and pools of water." Another part is described
as dry and naked, and barren of every thing, so that thereby
was also fulfilled another prophecy, which seemed in some mea-
sure to contradict the former, " Her cities are a desolation, a
dry land and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth,
' Hanway's Travels, vol. 4, part 3, c. 10, p. 78.
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141 BISliOP NEWTON
neither (1- *h ;u:v of UK! m pass thereby." The [dace thcrc-
aliotil i~ : i'i>-l as overrun with serpents, scorpions, and
nil - ; ; ni' \ i 'i i ■>; : K ms and unclean creatures, so lhal "tlicir
Imu-.-i mil of doleful creatures, and dragons cry in (.heir
pj< ; •;';:ci -s ; and i\ li i) is become heaps, a dwelling
!<!;<••,• , •;• dragons, an t < ;i i i - 1 . i r x ■ i i ( and a 1 1 1 li.-sing wil lion I. a n
inhabit, ■.;!."' Knr all loose reasons "neither can the Arabian
his I'.'nl 1 1 sere, neither can (he shepherds make their
i, '.!; there."' And when we f.nd lhal modern Irayollers cannot,
i: >w certainly discover (he spot of ground, whereon this renown-
ed ci'v oii.-e was si! unlet, we may very properly say, "How is
JNhvhm become a desolation among (he nations'? Every pur-
pose of (he i,<ird huth he performed against Babylon, to make
the land of Babylon a. desolation -without an inhabitant :" and
(lie expression is no less true than sublime, (hat " the Lord of
hosts hath swept it with the besom of destruction."
How wonderful are such predictions compared with the events,
and what a convincing argument of the truth and divinity of
the holy Scriptures ! Well might God .allege this as a memora-
ble instance of his prescience, and challenge all the false gods,
and their votaries, to produce the like, (Is. xlv. 21 ; xlvi. 10:)
"Who hath declared this from ancient time 1 who hath told it
from that time? have not I the Lord? and there is no God else
beside me, a just God and a Saviour, there is none beside me :
Declaring (lie end from the beginning, and from ancient times
the things that are not. yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand,
and I will do all my pleasure." And indeed where can you
find a similar instance but in Scripture, from the beginning of
the world to this clay 1
At the same time it must, afford all readers of an exalted
taste and generous sentiments, all the friends and lovers of
liberty, a very sensible pleasure to hear the prophets exulting
over such tyrants and oppressors as the kings of Assyria. In
the 14th chapter of Isaiah there is an Epinikion, or a triumphant
ode upon the fall of Babylon. It represents the infernal man-
sions as moved, and the ghosts of deceased tyrants as rising to
meet the king of Babylon, and congratulate his coming among
them. It is really admirable for the severest strokes of irony,
as well as for the sublimest strains of poetry. The Greek poet
* Alcceus, who is celebrated for his hatred to tyrants, and whose
odes were animated with the spirit of liberty no less than with
the spirit of poetry, we may presume to say, never wrote any
thing comparable to it. The late worthy professor of poetry
at Oxford hath eminently distinguished it in his lectures upon
* Hor. 2 Od. xiii. 26. Quintil. Instit. Orat. 1. 1, c. 1. ' AIcseus in
' Et te sonantem plenius aureo, parte operis aureo plectro merito donatur,
Alceae, plectrtf, &o.' qua tyrannos insectatur : &c.'
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
145
the sacred poesy of the Hebrews, 5 and hath given it (lie cha-
racter (hat it justly deserves, of one of I lie most spirited, most
sublime, and most perfect compositions of the lyric kind, su-
perior to any of the productions of Greece or Rome: and he
hath not only illustrated it with an useful commentary, but
hath also copied the beauties of the great original in an excel-
lent Latin Alcaic ode, which if the learned reader hath not yet
seen, he will be not n little pleased with the perusal of it. An-
other excellent hand, Mr. Mason, hath likewise imitated it in
an English ode, with which 1 hope he will one time or other
oblige the public. 8
But not only in this particular, but in the general, the Scrip-
tures, though often perverted to the purposes of tyranny, are
yet in their own nature calculated to promote the civil as well
as the religious liberties of mankind. True religion, and virtue,
and liberty are more nearly related, and more intimately con-
nected with each other, than people commonly consider. It is
very true, as St. Paul saith, (2 Cor. iii. 17,) that "where the
spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty:" or as our Saviom him-
self expresscth it, (John viii. 31,32,) " If ye continue in rny
word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the
truth, and the truth shall make ye free."
, XI. THE PROPHECIES CONCERNING TYRE.
ANOTHER city that was an enemy to the Jews, and another
- memorable instance of the truth of prophecy, is Tyre,
whose fall was predicted by the prophets, and particularly by-
Isaiah and Ezekiel. But it hath been questioned among learned
men, which of the Tyres was the subject of these prophecies,
whether Palaetyrus or old Tyre that was seated on the conti-
nent, or new Tyre that was built in an island almost over
against it. The truest and best answer I conceive to be, that
the prophecies appertain to both, some expressions being ap-
plicable only to the former, and others only to the latter. In
one place, (Ezek. xxvii. 3,) it is described "as situate at the
entry of the sea ;" in others, (ver. 4 and 25,) as " in the midst of
the seas," or according to the original in the heart of the seas.
Sometimes (Ezek. xxvi. 7, &c.) it is represented as besieged
"with horses and with chariots;" a "fort," a "mount," and
" engines of war, are set against it :" at other times, (Is. xxiii.
5 Lowth Prjclect. xm. ad fin. * Viget per sentio, nihil habet Grseca aut Romana poe-
totum spiritus liber, excelsus, vereque divi- sis simile aut secundum.' Prailec. xxviit.
pus ; neque deest quidquam ad summam hu- p. 277, &c.
jusce Odae sublimitatein absoluta pulchritu- e Mr. Mason hath since published this,
dine cumulamlam : cui, ut plane dicam quod with some other Odes, in 1766.
13 T
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146
BISHOP NEWTON
2, 4, C,) it is expressly called "an island," and "the sea, even
the strength of the sea." Now it is said, (Ezek. xxvi. 10,) "By-
reason of the abundance of his horses, their dust shall cover
thee, thv walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and
of the wheels, and of the chariots when he shall enter into thy
pites, as men enter into a city wherein is made a breach."
Then it is said, (ver. 12,) "They shall break down thy walls,
and destroy thy pleasant houses, and they shall lay thy stones,
and thy timber, and thy dust in the midst of the water ;" and
again, (Ezek. xxviii, 8,) "They shall bring thee down to the
pit, and thou shalt die (he deaths of them that are slain in the
midst of the seas." The insular Tyre therefore, as well as the
Tyre upon the continent, is included in these prophecies; they
are both comprehended under the same name, and both spoken
of as one and the same city, part built on the continent, and
part on an island adjoining. It is commonly said, indeed, that
when old Tyre was closely besieged, and was near falling into
the hands of the Chaldeeans, then the Tynans fled from thence,
and built new Tyre in the island : but the learned 1 Vitringa
hath proved at large from good authorities, that new Tyre was
founded several ages before, and was the station for ships, and
considered as part of old Tyre ; and 2 Pliny speaking of the
compass of tire city, reckons both the old and the new together.
Whenever the prophets denounce the downfall and desola-
tion of a city or kingdom, they usually describe by way of
contrast its present flourishing condition, to show in a stronger
point of view how providence shiftcth and changeth the scene,
and ordcreth and disposeth all events. The prophets Isaiah
and Ezekiel observe the same method with regard to Tyre.
Isaiah speaketh of it as a place of great antiquity, (xxiii. 7,)
"Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days?"
And it is mentioned as a strong place as early as in the days
of Joshua, (Josh. xix. 29,) " the strong city Tyre," for there is
no reason for supposing with 3 Sir John Marsham, that the
name is used here by way of prolepsis or anticipation. Nay
there are even heathen authors, who speak of the insular Tyre,
and yet extol the great antiquity of the place. The 4 Greek
geographer Strabo saith, that after Sidon the greatest and most
ancient city of the Phoenicians is Tyre, which is a rival to Sidon
in greatness, and lustre, and antiquitv. The 5 Roman historian
1 Vitring. Comment, in Iesaiam, c. 23,
vol. 1, p. 667—671.
2 'Circuitus xrx. mill, passuum est, intra
Palaetyro inclusa.' Plin. Nat. Hist. 1. 5, c. 17.
3 Marshami Cliron. Siec. xi. p. 290. 'No-
men id per prolepsin usurpatur, &c.'
A Metu ot StJora fieytvTti rdv 'voiviictiiv Kat
ayj(aiOT&Ti) ttoXis TiJpos ierh' 7 jj tvdiiiWos
aiiTrj Karci tc utyzQos, koi kutu rrjv intravital
Ka\-i)V apxai6T7/Ta. Post Sidonem, maxima
et anlviuissimu Phosnicum est Tyrus, cum
Sidone et magnitudine etfvrma et antiquitate
comparanda, Slrabo, 1. 16, p. 1097.
5 1 Urbs et vetuslate originis et crebra for-
tunes varietate ad meinoriam posteritatis in-
signis.' Quint. Curt. 1.4, c. 4.
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ON THE PROPHECIES. 117
Qilintus Curtius saith, th;it. if. is ;i cilv remarkable to posterity
both far tl to antiquity of its origin, and for i 1 -' frequent change
of fori one. Herodotus 6 who was himself a' Tyre, and inquired
into (lie antiquity of (lie temple of Hercules, was informed by
the priests, 1 1 int. (lie temple was built at the same time as the
[city, and from t lie building of the city they counted two thou-
sand nnd three hundred years. The ironical expression of the
prophet, " Is this your joyous city whose antiquity is of ancient
days'?" implies that the Tynans were apt to boast of their an-
tiquity: and by this account of Herodotus it appears that, they
did so, and much exceeded the truth: but there could have
been no pretence for their boasting of thousands of years, if the
city had not been built (as some contend) till after the destruc-
tion of the old city by the Chaldajane, that is not 130 years bo-
fore. Josephus 7 asserts, that from the building of Tyre to the
building of Solomon's temple were 210 years: but. he is with
reason 8 supposed to speak of the insular Tyre ; for the other pail
of the city on (he continent was much older, was a strong place,
as we have seen, in the days of Joshua, and is mentioned in the
fragments of 9 Sair.'honia.thon, the PhwniYian historian, who is'
reckoned to have lived about the time of Gideon, 2 or somewhat
later.
But, ancient as this city was, it was tire " daughter of Sidon,"
as it is called by the prophet Isaiah, (xxiii. 12,) and (ver. 2,)
" the merchants of Sidon, who pass over the sea, replenished
it." Sidonwas the eldest son of Canaan, (Gen. x. 15,) and the
city of Sklon is mentioned by the patriarch Jacob, (Gen. xlix. 13 ;)
and in the days of Joshua it is called "great Sidon," (Josh,
xi. 8;) and in the days of the Judges the inhabitants of Laish
are said (Judg. xviii. 7) to have "dwelt careless and secure,
after the manner of the Sidonians." We have seen already that
Straho affirms, that after Sidon Tyre was the greatest and most,
ancient city of the Phoenicians; and he 3 asserts likewise, that,
the poets have celebrated Sidon more, and Homer hath not so
much as mentioned Tyre, though he commends Sidon and the
Sidonians in several places. It may be therefore with reason
inferred, that Sidon was the more ancient: and 4 Justin, the
6 "EQtiffav yfy, a;ta rfiptii ohi^nusvTj Kal rh
\pbv rou SeoD [Soin-Qnvaf i7vai, <5f crca <i0' oy
Tpoov otKt'ovcjL,Tpij]K6tna Kai <W^c'X«z. Quippe
dicentcs, all urbe condila fuisse dei lemplum
pariter exstntctum : esse autem a Tyro con-
dita annnruin duo millia ac trecenlos. Herod.
!. 2. c. 44.
fitav tov vaov hiayiydvzi XP 6v °5 ffc3i< rtatrapd-
Kovra kol SiaKociuv A Tyri autem conditu us-
yue ad exstructionem templi elapsi sunt anni
quadraginta et ducenti, Joseph. Antiq. I. 8,
*.8,§ 1.
• Vide Vitritu. ibid, p. 669.
9 Apud. Euseh. Prtcpar. Evang. 1. 1, c. 10
1 * Itaque commode rejicitur in Gideonis
tempora,' &c. Bochart. Chanaan.l. 2 } c. 17,
co!. 776.'
2 Sf illinwflect's Ori^ines Sacrse, b. i, c. 2.
3 Oi fttv ovv Ttotr)Ta\ ti]v ^td6va TcbovWtf-
K(i<n ftaX^ov. "Ojjripos <5f oydf ufuvrjrai rns
Tvpov. Poetce quidem magis Sidonem ceU'
brant; atqui adeo Homerus Tyri non j/^emi*
nit. Strabo, 1. 16, p. 1097.
4 * Post multos deinde annos a rege
AscaJionorum expugnati, navibus appulsn
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14S
BISHOP NEWTON
opiliiini/.i'v i'I Trogns, halli expressly informed us, that the Si-
donians being besieged hy the kins? of Asealon, went in ships
ami buili Tvro. Jint though Tyre was the daughter of Sidon,
vet. the daughter soon equalled, and in lime excelled the mo-
ther, and became the most celebrated phico in (lie world for its
iranc and navigation, llie seal of commerce, and the centre of
riches and is therefore called by Isaiah, (xxiii. 3, 8,) "a mart
til naiimis, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes,
whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth :" and Ezekiel,
as it were, connnenling upon those words of Isaiah, a marl of na-
tions, (chap, xxvii.) recounts the various nations, whose commo-
dities were brought to Tyre, and were bought and sold by the
Tynans.
It was in this wealthy and flourishing condition, when the
prophets- foretold its destruction, Isaiah 125 years at least be-
fore it was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. An extensive and
beneficial trade soon produces luxury and pride. So it fared
with the Tynans; and for these and their other vices, as well
as for their insults and injuries done to the Jews, the prophets
prophesied against them. Isaiah mentions their pride as the
great occasion of their fall, (xxiii. 9:) " The Lord of hosts hath
purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into
contempt all the honourable of the earth." Ezekiel (xxvii. 3,
&c.) describes at large their luxury, even in their shipping.
Cleopatra's sailing down the river Cydnos to meet her gallant,
Antony, w as not with greater finery and magnificence ; nor have
the historians and poets painted the one in more lively colours,
than the prophet hath the other. 5 He censures likewise the
pride of the king of Tyre in arrogating to himself divine ho-
nours, (xxviii. 2, &c. :) " Son of man, say unto the prince of Ty-
rus, Thus saith the Lord God, Because thine heart is lifled up,
and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in
the midst of the seas ; yet thou art a man, and not God, though
thou set thine heart as the heart of God : — With thy wisdom
and with thine understanding thou hast gotten the 3 riches,
and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures : By thy
great wisdom and by thy traffic hast thou increased thy
riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches ;
Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Because thou hast set thine
heart as the heart of God: Behold, therefore, I will bring
strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations ; and they shall
draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they
shall defde thy brightness : They shall bring thee down to the
pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the
midst of the seas." The prophets Joel and Amos had before
Tyron urbcm— condiderunt. Justin. I. 18, 6 Plutarch in Antonio, § 26. Shakspearej
*■ •> § 5- Dryden.
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denounced the, divine judgments upon the Tynans for their
wickodncss in general, and in pellicular for their cruelly to the
children of Israel, and for buying mid Helling them like callli:
in the markets. Tims sniili (he Lord by I lie prophet, Joel,
(iii. 5, &c.) "Because ye have laken my silver and myxoid,
and have rarried into your temples my <r< mk 1 1 y pleasant, things:
The children also of Judali, and I he children of Jerusalem have
ve sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove I hem far from
thi'ir border: Behold, I will raise; (hem out. of the place whither
ye have sold them, and will return your recompense upon your
own head." Amos spcaketh to the same purpose, (i. !) :) "Thus
sailh the Lord, For three transgressions of Tyrus, mid for four
I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they
delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, and remembered not
the brotherly covenant," that, is, the league and alliance between
Hiram king of Tyre on one part, and David and Solomon on
the oilier. The Psalmist reckons (hem among the mnst inve-
terate and implacable enemies of the Jewish name and nation,
(Psnl. lxxxiii. C, 7:) "The tabernacles of Edom. and the Ish-
maelites, of Moab, and the Uagarenes, Gebal, and Amnion,
and Amalek, the Philistines, villi the inhabitants of Tyre."
Ezckiel also begins his prophecy against them with a decla-
ration, that it was occasioned by their insulting over the Jews
upon the taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, (xxvi. 2, 3 :)
"Son of man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem,
Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people ; she is
turned unto me, I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste ;
Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I am against thee,
O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee,
as the sea causeth his waves to come up."
These were the occasions of the prophecies against Tyre :
and by carefully considering and comparing the prophecies to
get her, we shall find the following particulars included in them ;
that the city was to be taken and destroyed by the Chalda-ans,
who were at the time of the delivery of the prophecv an incon-
siderable people, and particularly by Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon; that the inhabitants should fly over the Mediterra-
nean into the islands and the countries adjoining, and even
there should not find a quiet settlement; that the city should
be restored after seventy years, and return to her gain and
merchandise ; that it should be taken and destroyed again ; that
the people should in time forsake their idolatry, and become
converts to the true religion and worship of God ; and finally
that the city should be totally destroyed, and become a place
only for fishers to spread their nets upon. We shall find these
particulars to be not only distinctly foretold, but likewise ex-
actly fulfilled.
13*
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BISHOP NEWTON
I. The city was ;o be taken and destroyed by (lie Chaldicans,
who were ni the time of the delivery of tlic prophecy an incon-
siderable people. This, we think, is suilicienlly implied in
these words of the prophet Isaiah, (xxiii. 13:) "Behold, the
land of i ho Chalda'ans ; this people w as not till the Assyrian
founded ii for them thai, dwell in the wilderness, [hey sot up the
towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he
luoitirhl it to ruin." " Heboid," an exclamation to show that
he is going to niter something' new and extraordinary; "the
land of the Chahkeans," that is, Babylon and (lie country about
Babylon ; "this people was not," was of no note or eminence,
'■till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wil-
derness," they dwelt before in tents and led a wandering life in
the wilderness, till (he Assyrians built Babylon for their recep-
tion. Babel or Babylon was first built by the children of men
after the flood. After the dispersion of mankind, Nimrod made
it the capital of his kingdom. With Nimrod it sunk again,
till the Assyrians rebuilt it for the purposes here mentioned;
"they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces
thereof," and Herodotus, Ctesias, and other ancient historians
agree that the kings of Assyria fortified and beautified Babylon;
"and he," that is, "this people" mentioned before, the Chal-
deans or Babylonians, " brought it to ruin," that is, Tyre, which
is the subject of the whole prophecy. The Assyrians were at
'hat time the great monarchs of the east ; the Chaida:ans were
their slaves and subjects; arid therefore it is the more extra-
ordinary, that the prophet, should so many years beforehand
foresee the successes and conquests of the Chaldieans.
Ezekiel lived nearer the time, and he declares expressly that
the city should be taken aud destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar
king of Babylon, (xxvi. 7—11:) "Thus saith the Lord God,
Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus, Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon, a king of kings from the north, with horses, and with
chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much peo-
ple ; — he shall slay thy people by the sword, and thy strong
garrisons shall go down to the ground." Salmaneser king of
Assyria 6 had besieged Tyre, but without success ; the Tynans
had with a few ships beaten his large fleet ; but yet Nebuchad-
nezzar should prevail. Ezckiel not only foretold the siege,
but mentions it afterwards as a past transaction, (xxix. 18:)
" Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army
to serve a great service against Tyrus ; every head was made
bald, and every shoulder was peeled."
Menander the Ephesian translated the Phoenician annals
info Greek ; and 7 Josephus asserts upon their authority, that
* Annates Menandri apud Josephum, Antiq. ]. 9, c. 14, § 2.
* Joseph, contra Apion. 1. 1. § 20 el 21.
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Nebur.hiirtuez/.iir liesiegeil Tyre, thirteen years when Ilhobal was
king (liere, and began the siege in t he seven I li year of It.ho-
bal's reign, and that, he subdued Syria and all Phoenicia. The
same s historian likewise observes, that Phiiostratus in Ills
Indian and Phienirian histories affirms llial Ibis king (Nebu-
chadnezzar) besieged Tyre thirteen years, Illmhal reigning' at
that lime in Tyre. The siege continuing so long, the soldiers
must needs endure many hardships, so that hereby we better
understand the justness of Ezekiel's expression, that "Nebu-
chadnezzar caused his army to serve a great service against
Tynis; every head was made bald, and every shoulder was
peeled:" such light cloth profane history cast upon sacred. It
farther appears from the Phoenician annals quoted hy the same
'historian, that the Tynans received their kings afterwards
from Babylon, which plainly evinces that some of the blood-
royal must, have been carried captives thither. The Phoenician
annals too, as Dr. Prideaux 1 hath clearly shown, agree exactly
with E/.ekicl's account of the time and year wherein the city
was taken. Tyre therefore according to the prophecies was
subdued and taken by Nebuchadnezzar and the Chakkeans :
and after this we hear little more of that part, of the city which
stood upon the continent. It is some satisfaction that we
are able to produce such authorities as we have produced,
out of heathen historians, for transactions of such remote
antiquity.
II. The inhabitants should pass over the Mediteiranean into
the islands and countries adjoining, and even there should find
no quiet settlement. This is plainly signified by Isau.h, (xxiii. 6,)
"Pass ye over to Tarshish," (that is, to Tartessus in Spain,)
"howl ye inhabitants of the isle:" and again, (vei. 12,) "Arise,
pass over to Chittim," (that is, the islands and countries bor-
dering upon the Mediterranean;) "there also shall thou have
no rest." What the prophet delivers by way of advice, is to be
understood as a prediction. Ezckiel intimates the same thing,
(xxvi. IS,) "The isles that are in the sea shall be troubled at
thy departure." It is well known that the Phoenicians were
the best navigators of antiquity, and sent forth colonies into
several parts of the world. A great scholar of the last century
hath written a whole treatise 2 of the colonies of the Phoeni-
cians, a work (as - indeed all his are) of immense learning and
erudition. And of all the Phoenicians the Tynans were the
most celebrated for their shipping and colonies. Tyre exceeded
B tfAu'o-T-p.iro; tv T<lU 'IvfoKals avrov koX Tt/ro regnaret. Joseph. Antiq. 1. 10, c. 11,
Qoivikiku; iffT'ioi'W, Sri ovtos 6 .ddfftXcu; lira- § 1.
Xetyia/{T£ Ti'0'U' crij iy\ i-1ttcrt\zv<iVT0s Kar ext- 3 Joseph, contra Apion. 1. 1, § 21.
tvov rbv K-dipji' Wis Tuoov. Philo- 1 Prideaux. Connect, part 1, b. 2, Anno
strains tarn in Indira / ins nunm Phcenirib> hitt- 573. Nebuchadnezzar 32.
toriis, quad itic r.-.r Ircdrrim annns Turum 2 Bocharti Chanaan.
vppugnaver it, ruin illu tempore. Ilhobalus in
5
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BISHOP NEWTON
Sidon ill ibis respect, as 3 Strabo testifies, rind soul forth colo-
nic- into Africa and Ppain unto and beyond (lie. pillars of Her
ciilc-i : ami * Qr.intus Curtius saith, thai her colonics were dif-
l"ii„,i almost over the whole world. The Tynans therefore
iia\iin.' planted colonrcs at Tarshish and upon the coasts of
Chitiini, it was nalnral Cor (licni, when they were pressed with
dangers and difficulties at home, to fly to their friends and
l oiintrvinen ahroad for refuge and protection. That they really
diil so, St. Jerome asserts upon the authority of Assyrian his-
tories, which are now lost and perished. 'We have read,' 5 saith
he, ' in the histories of the Assyrians, that w hen the Tyrians
were besieged, after they saw no hope of escaping 1 , they went
mi hoard (heir ships, and lied to Carthage, or to some islands
of the Ionian and .Eu'ean sea.' And in another place he c saith,
' that when the Tynans saw that the works for carrying on the
siege were perfected, and the foundations of the walis were
shaken by the battering of the rains, whatsoever precious things
in gold, silver, clothes, and various kinds of furniture the no-
bility had, ihey put them on board their ships, and carried to
the islands; so that the city being taken, Nebuchadnezzar
found nothing worthy of his labour.' It must have been grie-
vous to Nebuchadnezzar, after so long and laborious a siege, to
he disappointed of the spoil of so rich a city; and therefore
Ezekiei was commissioned to promise him the conquest of
Esrypt for his reward, (xxix. 18, 19:) "Son of man, Nebu-
chadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great
service against Tyrus : every head was made bald, and every
shoulder was peeled: yet had he no wages, nor his army for
Tyrus, for the service that he had served against it. Therefore
thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will give the land of Egypt
unto Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and be shall take her
multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey, and it shall
be the wages for li is army."
But though the Tyrians should pass over to Tarshish and
to Chittim, yet even there they should find no quiet, settlement,
"there also shah thou have no rest." Mcgasthenes, 7 who lived
about 3U0 years before Christ, and was employed by Seleucus
3 At ri iU At^t-r/v Ktit Tt)v 'I/?i/ot<(i', atrni-
<"'"i, ut^ni kiii r£.ii trriiAuv, tiiv Tvti'iv -\tnv
'{'tuvrtici uaXymi. Culniiin: taint it in Atri-
''tin it //. iji'ini'tin uffiu:, ltd Im'.ti txirii rtitu.nl-
\>/i rtti;nrttr : Tiinun jitnrimum ctlitnuic-
rinU. rtlniljo, I. hi, |i. 1(1117.
x 'Cip!imi:i' cert'" ejus peno orb': toto dif-
r J-:i- sunt.' Q'unl. Curl. !. 4. r. i.
s ' L''i.'innis in hiiloriis Assyritinirn, nh-
scssi,s Tvri'js, pustiptam rtll!!;irfl spi-ln t-va-
•l-n-li vi'lebam, cuisiwn-is navibu- fn^iss-n
I 'irfliii^nu-rri. s<-ii ;i<l alias l< jn 1 1 A'.'jt iipio
n>arn iu-.ulas.' Hi' run. in Is. 23, C.
5 1 Qnotl quum viilcrent Tyrii jamjamrpie
perfeetum, et percussione arietimi murdrum
iiuidamenla rpiaterentur, cpiicquid pretiosum
in auro, arfjcnlo, ventibiisque, et varia su-
polluetili nobiliias babnii, imposituni navibus
ail insulas asporlavit ; ita ut capla urbe,
nibil ili^num labori: sito inveniret Nabucbo-
donosor. ) Idurn in E'lck. c 29.
' Arrian. de Exped. Alex. 1. 5, r. 6. Ejus-
dem Hisi. Ind. e. 5 Voss. de Hist. Graec.
1. 1, c. 11. Prid. Connect, part 1, b. 8,
Aimu 29S. Ptolemy Soler. 7.
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153
Nicator in an embassy to lite king of India, wrote afterwards
a history of India, wherein lie mentioned Nebuchadnezzar with
great honour. This historian is quoted by several ancient au-
thors; he is cited particularly by " Slrabo, Joseplms, and Aby-
denus in Eusehius, for saying that Nebuchadnezzar surpassed
Hercules in bravery and great exploits, that lie subdued great
part of Africa and Spain, and proceeded as far as to the pillars
of Hercules. After Nebuchadnezzar had subdued Tvre and
Egypt, we may suppose that he carried bis arms farther west-
ward: and if ho proceeded so far as Mcgasthenes reports, the
Tyrians might well be said to "have no rest," their conqueror
pursuing them from one country to another. But besides this,
and after this, the Carthaginians and other colonies of the Ty-
rians lived in a very unsettled state. Their history is made up
of little but wars and tumults, even before their three fatal wars
with the Romans, in everyone of which their affairs grew worse
and worse. Sicily and Spain, Europe and x\frica, ihe land and
their own element, the sea, were theatres of their calamities and
miseries; til! at last not only the new, but old Cartilage too
was utterly destroyed. As tiie Carthaginians sprung from the
Tyrians, and the Tyrians from the Sidonians, and Sidon was
the first-born of Canaan, (Gen. x. 15,) so the curse upon Ca-
naan seemeth to have pursued them to the most distant parts of
the earth.
III. The city should be restored after seventy years, and re-
turn to her gain and her merchandise. This circumstance is ex-
pressly foretold by Isaiah, (xxiii. 15 — 17:) "And it. shall come
to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years,
according to the days of one king," or kingdom, meaning the
Babylonian which was to continue seventy years : " after the end
of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot. Take an harp, go
about the city, thou harlot that bast been forgotten, make sweet
melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.
And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that
the Lord will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall
commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon
the face of the earth." Tyre is represented as a harlot, and
from thence these figures are borrowed, the plain meaning of
which is, that she should lie neglected of traders and merchants
for severity years, "as long as the Babylonian empire lasted, and
after that she should recover her liberties and her trade, and
draw in several of all nations to deal with her, and particularly
the kings of the earth to buy her purples, which were worn chielly
by emperors and kings, and for which Tyre was famous above
all places in the world.
1 Strsiho, 1. 15, p. 1007. Joseph. Antiq. 1. 10, c. 11, § 1. Contra Apion. 1. I, § 20. Eu-
«eb. Prmpar. Evung. 1. 9, c. 41. TT
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iJItSIIOP NEWTON
{Seventy \ears was the lime prefixed for the duration of the
J?abvloitiaii empire. Ho long (lie nations were to groan under
i\',aii!iiral \oko, though those nations were subdued some
sn .in r. -.•in.- later than others. (.Jcr. x.w. 11, 12:) "These na-
' i ; , II serve ilit; king of Babylon seventy years': Audit
.|„:ll come to pass when seventy years are .accomplished, that
I v, ill punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, sailh (lie
!,. :■.!, lor their iniquity, and the land of the Chalda.'ans, and
make it perpetual desolations." And accordingly at the
end of seventy years Cyrus and the Persians subverted the Ba-
bylonian empire, and restored the conquered nations to their
liberties.
ibit we may compute these seventy years after another man-
ner. Tyre was taken 9 by Nebuchadnezzar in the thirty-
second year of his reign, and in the year 573 before Christ.
Seventy years from thence will bring us down to the year 503
before Christ, and the nineteenth of Darius Hystaspis. At. that
time it appears from 1 history that the Ionians had rebelled
against Darius, and the Phoenicians assisted him with their
fleets: and consequently it is reasonable to conclude that they
were now restored to their former privileges. In the succeed-
ing reign we find 2 that they, together with the Sidonians, fur-
nished Xerxes with several ships for his expedition into Greece.
And by the time of Alexander the Tyriaas were grown to such
power and greatness, that they stopped the progress of that
rapid conqueror longer than any part of the Persian empire
besides. But all this is to be understood of the insular Tyre;
for as the old city flourished most before the time of Nebuchad-
nezzar, so the new city flourished most afterwards, and (his is the
Tyre that henceforth is so much celebrated in history.
IV. The city should be taken and destroyed again. For
when it is said by the prophets, (Isa. xxiii. 6,) "Howl ye in-
habitants of the isle;" (Ezek. xxvii. 32,) "What city is like
Tyrus, like the destroyed in the midst of the sea?" (xxviii. 8,)
" They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the
deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas:" these
expressions can imply no less than that the insular Tyre should
be destroyed as well as that upon the continent; and as the
one was accomplished by Nebuchadnezzar, so was the other by
Alexander the Great. But the same thing may be inferred
more directly from the words of Zechariah, who prophesied in
the reign of Darius, (Zech. i. 1 ; vii. 1,) probably Darius Hys-
taspis, many years after the former destruction of the city, and
consequently he must be understood to speak of this latter.
II is words are these, (ix. 3, 4,) " And Tyrus did build herself
' Sec Prid. Connect. Part 1, b. 2, and ! Ilcrod. 1. 7, c. B9, &c. Diod Sic. 1.11,
b 4. ■ Herod. I. 5, •;. 108, &c. c. 3.
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155
a strong hold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold
as the mire of the streets. Behold the Lord will cast her out,
and hi; will smite her power in the sen, and she shall be devoured
with lire." It is very true "that Tyrus did build herself a strong
hold;'' for her situation was very strong in an island, and be-
sides the .sea to defend her she was 3 fortified with a wall of
150 feet, in height, and of a proportionable thickness. "She
heaped up silver as the dust, and line gold as the mire of the
streets," being the most celebrated place in the world for trade
nnd riches, "the mart of nations," as she is called, conveying
the commodities of the east to the west, and of the west to the
east. But yet, "Behold the Lord will cast her out, and he will
smite her power in the sea, and she shall be devoured with fire."
Ezekiol had likewise foretold that the city should be consumed
with fire, (xxviii. 18 :) " I will bring forth a fire from the midst
of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon
the earth, in the sight of all them that behold thee." And ac-
cordingly Alexander besieged, and took, and set the city on
fire. 4 The ruins of old Tyre contributed much to the taking of
the new city: for 5 with the stones and timber and rubbish of
the old city Alexander built a bank or causey from the conti-
nent to the island, thereby' literally fulfilling the words of the
prophet Ezekiel, fxxvi. 12,) "They shall lay thy stones and thy
timber, and thy dust in the midst of the water." lie was seven
months in completing this work, but the time and labour were
well employed, for by means hereof he was enabled to storm
and take the city.
As in the former siege the inhabitants, according to the pro-
phecies, fled over the Mediterranean to the islands and coun-
tries adjoining, so they did likewise in this latter siege ; for
Diodorus Siculus 6 and Quintus Curtius both testify that they
sent their wives and children to Carthage; and upon the tak-
ing of the place the Sidonians 7 secretly conveyed away fifteen
thousand more in their ships. Happy were they who thus
escaped, for of those who remained behind, the conqueror 8
slew eight thousand in the storming and taking of the city ; he
caused two thousand afterwards cruelly to be crucified, and
thirty thousand he sold for slaves. They had before sold some
3 Arrian. de Exped. Alex. I. 2, c. 21.
Tiirc v'4-'oi eU lecVT^KOvrit Kal ixarbv (idXiara
Trd&iff, Kui is irXaros Zvpnerpov. cl ad~
jnodum pedes aLlus, latiludine altitudini re-
spondenlfi.
4 Quint. Curt. 1.4, c. 4. 'Ignemque tec-
tis injici jnbet, 1
5 Quint. Curt. 1. 4, c. 2. Diod. Sic. 1. 17,
c. 40.
6 TfKva [l}v Ka} yvvaiKas Kal roi'S yt-
oavro. Liheros et -uxores cum senio confcdU
Cnrlha^incm irnnsportnre deccrnunt. TAoj
tt, tu>v rtxvwv Krri yvvaiK&v iu'oqs HU' 'ti'CuCitV
ijKtK&iiizvoi xpds Toii Kup^/iWt'ou;. Ytmdetn
deponenda qwvlam apud C'lrthuzinenies /£-
bcrnrt/m et uxnrtitn pirte [hoslern) uutcver-
tltnt. Diod. Sic. I. 17, c. 41. 'Conjures
liberosque devi-lu'iido-s Carllmginem trade-
runt.' duint. Curt. I. 4, c. 3.
' Quint. Curt. I. 4, c. 4.
8 Arrian. I. 2, c. 24. Q.uint. Curt. ibid.
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BISHOP NEWTON
of the captive Jews, and now il was relumed upon fhem accord-
ing to tin- prediction of Joel, (iii. 6 — S :) "The children also of
Judah, and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold ; behold I
will rHurn yotir recompense upon your own head, and will sell
your sons and your daughters." This is (he main of (he pro-
phecy, dial as they had sold (he captive Jews, so they should
lie sn!d themselves: and having seen this so punctually ful-
lilled, we may more easily believe that the other parts were so
too, though at this distance of time, and in this scarcity of an-
cient historians, wo are not. able (o prove all (lie particulars.
When the cilv was taken before, (lie Tyrians received their
kind's afterwards from Babylon; and now 9 ( heir king held Iris
crown by Alexander's appointment. The cases arc parallel in
many respects : but the city recovered much sooner from the
calamities of this siege than from the fatal consequences of the
former. For in 1 nineteen years' time it was able to withstand
the fleets and armies of Autigonus, and sustained a siege of
fifteen months before it was taken: a plain proof, as Dr. Pri-
deaux observes, of the great advantage of trade. For this city
being (he grand mart, where most of the trade both of I he east
and west did then centre, by virtue hereof it was, that it so
soon revived to its pristine vigour.'
V. It is usual with God to temper his judgments with mercy ;
and amidst these calamities it is also foretold, that there should
come a lime, when the Ty'rians would forsake their idolatry, and
become converts to the true religion and worship of God. The
Psalmist is thought to have hinted as much, in saying, (xlv. 12,)
" The daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift ;" and again
(lxxii. 10,) "The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring
presents." Zechariah, when he foretells the calamities which
the Tyrians and neighbouring nations should suffer from Alex-
ander, (ix. 1 — 7,) at the same time predicts their conversion to
the true God ; " but he that remaineth, even he shall be for our
God." But nothing can be plainer than Isaiah's declaration
that they should consecrate the gains of their merchandise for
the maintenance of those who minister to the Lord in holy
things, ( xxiii. 18:) "And her merchandise and her hire shall
be holiness to the Lord : it shall not be treasured, nor laid up :
for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the
Lord, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing." Here par-
ticularly we must be much obliged to the learned Vitringa, 8 who
hath fully shown the completion of this article ; as indeed every
one who would rightly understand the prophet Isaiah, must be
' DioJ. Sic. I. 17, c. 46. Tfj? h h?vp!ui, ' Diod. Sic. 1. 19, c. 61. Prid. Connect.
mWiws rnTfVrijirE flaaiMu riv apo/m^oiicvoY part 1, b. 8, Anno 313. Alexander .iEgus 4.
BwXWmov. Tytimum urbi regem prafrcit 2 Vitrins. Comment, in Iesaiam, c. 23,
cut BaUonijmo nnmm, vol. 1, p. 704.
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157
greatly obliged to that excellent commentator, and will receive
more light and assistance from him than from all besides him.
The Tyriaiis were much addicted to the worship of Hercules
as he was called by the Greeks, or of P.aal as he is denominated
in Scripture. But in process of time, by the means of some
Jews and proselytes living and conversing among litem, some
of them also became proselytes to the Jewish religion ; so (hat.
" a great multitude of people from the sea-const, of Tyre and
Sidon came to hear" our Saviour, (Luke vi. 17,) "and to he
healed of their diseases :" and our Saviour, who was " sent only
to the lost sheep of the house of Israel," yet. came "into the
coasts of Tyre and Sidon," (Matt. xv. 21, &c. Mark vii. 24, &ic. ;)
and the first fruits of the gospel there was a Tynan woman, " a
woman of Canaan," as she is called, "a Syro-phosnician by
nation." When St. Paul in his way to Jerusalem came to Tyre,
he found disciples there who were inspired by the Holy Ghost
and prophesied, (Acts xxi. 4,) and with them he " tarried seven
days." The Tyrians were such sincere converts to Christianity,
that in the time of Diocletian's persecution they exhibited se-
veral glorious examples of confessors and martyrs, which Eu-
sebins 3 himself saw, and hath amply testified in his book of the
martyrs of Palestine. Afterwards, when the storm of persecution
was blown over, the Tyrians under their bishop Paulinus built
an oratory or rather a temple for the public worship of God,
the most magnificent and sumptuous in all Palestine and Phoe-
nicia, which temple Eusebius 4 hath described, and celebrated
in a handsome panegyric, whereof he hath inserted a copy in
his history, but modestly concealed the name of the author.
Eusebius, therefore, commenting upon this passage of Isaiah,
might very well say that 'it is fulfilled in our time. 5 For since
a church of God hath been founded in Tyre as well as in other
nations, many of its goods gotten by merchandise are conse-
crated to the Lord, being offered to his church ;' as he after-
wards explains himself, ' for the use of the ministers of the altar
or gospel, according to the institution of our Lord, that they
who wait at the altar should live of the altar.' In like manner
St, Jerome : 6 ' We may behold churches in Tyre built to Christ :
we may see their riches that they are not laid up nor treasured,
but given to those who dwell before the Lord. For the Lord
' Euseb. Eccles. Hist. 1. 8, c. 7. D6
Martvr. Palestine, c. 5 et 7.
4 Euseb. Hist. 1. 10, c. 4.
5 "O K(u r:\rjpovTat KaQ' fjfia? a&rotff, K.
r. X. Quod nostra tempore impletum vide-
mux. Nam cum ecclesia Dei in urbe Tyro
perinde ac in reliquis gentibus Jundala si7,
mull(B ex ejus mercibus negotiadone partis
Domino consccraniur, ecclesiee ejus oblata :
videlicet ut mox exponit, in usum ministrorum
14
altaris ctve evangelii, secundum tnsMutum
Domini, ut ministri altaris ex eo vivant.
6 'Cernamus in Tyro exstructas Christi
ecclesias, consideremus opes omnium, quod
non reponantur nec thesaurizentur, sed den-
tur his qui habitant coram Domino. — Sic
enim et Dominus constituit, ut qui Evange-
lium praedicant, vivant de Evun^ciio.' Hie-
ron. in Is. c. 23.
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BISHOP NEWTON
hath appointed, that they who preach tlio gospel should live of
-the lti>-|v!.' And how liberally ;s i i<J munificently the bishops
nnil clergy were at that lime maintained, how plentifully they
were furnished with every thing, "to ent sufficiently, and for
durable clothing," no man can want to he informed, who is ever
so little conversant in ecclesiastical history. To these proofs we
will only add, that as Tyre consecrated its merchandise and hire
unto the Lord, so it had the honour of being erected into an
archbishopric,'' and the first archbishopric under the patriarchate
of Jerusalem, having fourteen bishops under its primacy ; and in
this state it continued several years.
VI. But after all the city should be totally destroyed, and
become a place only for fishers to spread their nets upon. When
the prophets denounced the destruction of a city or country, it
was not. intended that such denunciation should take effect im-
mediately. The sentence of condemnation, (as I may say.) was
then passed upon it, but the execution might be respited for
some time. When it was threatened that Babylon should be-
come a desolation without an inhabitant, there were yet many
ages before it was reduced to that condition; it decayed by
degrees, till at last it came to nothing ; and now the place is so
little known, that you may look for Babylon in the midst of
Babylon. In like manner Tyre was not to be ruined and deso-
lated all at once. Other things were to happen first. It was to
be restored after seventy years ; it was to be destroyed and re-
stored again, in order io its being adopted into the church. These
events were to take place, before Ezekiel's prophecies could be
fully accomplished, (xxvi. 3, 4, 5 :) " Thus saith the Lord God,
Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many na-
tions to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to
come up : And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break
down her towers ; I will also scrape her dust from her, and make
her like the top of a rock : It shall be a place for the spreading
of nets in the midst of the sea : for I have spoken it, saith the
Lord God." He repeats it to show the certainty of it, (ver. 14 :)
" I will make thee like the top of a rock ; thou shalt be a place
to spread nets upon ; thou shalt be built no more ; for I the Lord
have spoken it, saith the Lord God ;" and again, (ver. 21 :) " I
will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more ; though thou
he sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the
Lord God."
These prophecies, like most others, were to receive their com-
pletion by degrees. Nebuchadnezzar, as we have seen, destroyed
the old city ; and Alexander employed the ruins and rubbish in
making his causey from the continent to the island, which
henceforwards weie joined together. 'It is no wonder, there-
7 Sandys' Travels, b. 3, p. 16S, 6ih edit. 1670. Hoffman's Lexicon, &c.
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
159
fore,' as Bishop Pocockc 8 observes, 'that there are no signs of
the ancient, city; anil as it is a sandy shore, (lie face of every
tiling is altered, and the great aqueduct in many parts is almost
buried in (lie sand.' So that as to this part of the city, the
prophecy hath literally been fulfilled, "Thou >halt he built no
more ; though thou he sought for, yet shall, thou never he found
again." It may be questioned whether the new citv over after
that arose to that height of power, wealth, and greatness, to
which it was elevated in the times of Isaiah and Ezckiel. It
received a great blow from Alexander, not only by his taking
and burning the city, but much more by his building of Alex-
andria in Egypt, which in time deprived it of much of its trade,
and thereby contributed more effectually to its ruin. It had
the misfortune afterwards of changing its masters often, being
sometimes in the hands of the Ptolemies kings of Egypt, and
sometimes of the Seleucidce kings of Syria, till at length it fell
under the dominion of the Romans. It was taken by the 9 Sara-
cens about the year of Christ 639, in the reign of Omar their
third emperor. It was retaken by the 1 Christians during the
time of the holy war, in the year 1124, Baldwin, the second of
that name, being then king of Jerusalem, and assisted by a fleet
of the Venetians. From the Christians it was taken 2 again
in the year 1289 by the Mamalucs of Egypt, under their Sul-
tan Alphix, who sacked and razed this and Sidon and other
strong towns, that they might not ever again afford any harbour
or shelter to the Christians. From the Mamalucs it was again
taken 3 in the year 1516, by Selim, the ninth emperor of the
Turks ; and under their dominion it continues at present. But
alas, how fallen, how changed from what it was formerly ! For
from being the centre of trade, frequented by all the merchant
ships of the east and west, it is now become a heap of ruins,
visited only by the boats of a few poor fishermen. So that as to
this part likewise of the city, the prophecy hath literally been
fulfilled : " I will make thee like the top of a rock ; thou shalt
be a place to spread nets upon."
The famous 4 Huetius knew one Hadrianus Parvillerius, a
8 Poeocke's Descript. of the East, vol. 2,
b. 1, c. 20, p. 81, 82.
8 Ockley's Hist, of the Saracens, vol. 1,
p. 340. '
^ 1 Ahul-Pharajii Hist. Dyn. 9, p. 250.
Vers. Pocock. Savage's Abridgment of
Knolles and Rycaut, vol. 1, p. 26.
B Savage's Ahiid<;ment, vol. 1, p. 95.
Pocork. Descript. of the East, vol. 2, b. 1,
c. 20. p. S3.
3 Savage's Abridgment, vol. 1, p. 241.
* * Hadrianum Parvellerium, e societate
Jesu, virum candidissimum et Arabice doc-
tissimum qui decent annos in Syria egit,
memini me audire aliquando cum diceret,
sibi o!im ad collapsas Tyri ruinas accedenti,
et-rupes mari prietentas ac disjectos passim
in litore lapiiles procul sped ami, sole, riuc-
tibus, et auris detersos ac levigatos, et sic-
candis solum piscatorum retibus, quce turn
forte plurima desnper expansa erant utiles,
venisse in memnriam hujus prophetic Eze-
kielis de Tyro, (xxvi. 5, 14:) " Dabo te in
limpidissiinam pel ram : siccatio sagenarum
eris, nec a-dificabcris ultra, quia eso locutus
sum, ait Dominus Deus." ' Huetii Demon-
strat. Evang. Prop. 6, ad fin. p. 358.
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BISHOP NEWTON
Jesuit, n very candid man and a master of Arabic, who resided
ton years in S\ ria ; and lie remembers to have heard him some-
times say, tlial when lie approached the ruins of Tyre, and be-
held the rocks stretched forth to tlie sea, and the great, stones
yeatteivd nil and down on the shore, made clean and smooth by
the situ and waves and winds, and useful only for the drying
of fishermen's nets, man}' of which happened at that, time to he
spread thereon, it brought, to his memory this prophecy of Eze-
kiel concerning Tyre, (xxvi. 5, 11 :) "I will make thee like the
top of a rock' ; thou shall be a place to spread nets upon ; thou
shall he built no more ; for I (he Lord have spoken it, saith the
Lord God/'
Dr. Shaw 5 in his account of Tyre thus expresselh himself:
'I visited several creeks and inlets in order to discover what
provision there might, have been formerly made for the security
of their vessels. Yet. notwithstanding that Tyre was the chief
maritime power of this country, I could not observe the least
token of either colJwn or harbour that could have been of any
extraordinary capacity. The coasting ships indeed, still find a
tolerable good shelter from the northern winds under the south-
ern shore, but were obliged immediately to retire, when the
winds change, to the west or south: so that there must have
been some better station than this for their security and recep-
tion. In the N. N. E. part likewise of the city, we see the traces
of a safe and commodious basin, lying within the walls : but
which at the same time is very small, scarce forty yards in dia-
meter. Neither could it ever have enjoyed a larger area, unless
the buildings, which now circumscribe it, were encroachments
upon its original dimensions. Yet even this port, small as it is
at present, is notwithstanding so choked up with sand and rub-
bish, that the boats of those poor fishermen who now and then
visit this once renowned emporium, can with great difficulty only
be admitted.'
But the fullest for our purpose is Mr. Maundrell, 'whom it is
a pleasure to quote as well as to read, and whose journal of
his journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, though a little book, is
yet worth a folio, being so accurately and ingeniously written,
that it might, serve as a model for all writers of travels. ' This
city,' 8 saith he, 'standing in the sea upon a peninsula, pro-
mises at a distance something very magnificent. But when
you come to it, you find no similitude of that glory, for which
it was so renowned in ancient limes, and which the prophet
Ezekiel describes, chap. xxvi. xxvii. xxviii. On the north side it
has an old Turkish ungarrisoned castle ; besides which you see
nothing here, hut a mere Babel of broken walls, pillars, vaults,
&o. there being not so much as one entire house left : its pre-
• Shaw's Travels, p. 330. c Maundrell, p. 48, 49, 5th edit.
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
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sent. inhabitants an: only a few poor wretches harbou.ing them-
selves in I In: vaults, and subsist ing chiefly upon fishiny, who
seem to In' preserved in this place by divine providence:, as a
visible argument Iiow God lias fulfilled liis word concerning
T\le, viz. llial, "it should he as the lop of a roc If, a place for
fisher-; lo dry their nets on." '
Such hath been the fate of (.Ids city, once tlx; most, famous
in the world for trade and commerce. But. trade is a fluctuat-
ing lliing: it passed from Tyre to Alexandria, from Alexandria
to Venice, from Venice to Antwerp, from Antwerp lo Amster-
dam and London, the English rivalling (he Dutch, as the
Frencli are now rivalling both. All nations almost are wisely
applying themselves to trade ; and it behoves those who are in
possession of it, to take the greatest care that they do not.
lose it. It. is a plant of tender growth, and requires sun, and
soil, and fine seasons, to make it. thrive and flourish. It will
not grow like (he palm-tree, which with the more weight and
pressure rises the more. Liberty is a friend to that, as t hat is
a friend to liberty. Hut the greatest enemy to both is licen-
tiousness, which tramples upon all. law and lawful authority,
encourages riots and tumults, promotes drunkenness and
debauch cry, sticks at nothing to supply its extravagance,
practices every act of illicit gain, ruins credit, ruins trade, and
will in the end ruin liberty itself. Neither kingdoms nor
commonwealths, neither public companies nor private persons,
can long carry on a beneficial flourishing trade without virtue,
and what virtue tcacheth, sobriety, industry, frugality, mo-
desty, honesty, punctuality, humanity, charity, the love of our
country, and the fear of God. The prophets will inform us
how the Tynans lost it; and (he like causes will always pro-
duce the like effects. (Isa. xxiii. 8, 9:) "Who hath taken
this counsel against Tvrc, the crowning city, whose merchants
are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth 1
The Lord of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all
glorv, and to buns into contempt all the honourable of the
earth." (Exek. xxvii. 3, 4:) "Thus saith the Lord God, O
Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty. Thy borders
are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy
beauty." (xxviii. 5, &c. :) " By thy great wisdom, and by (hy
traffic k hast thou increased thy riches, and thy heart is lifted
up because of thy riches. By the multitude of thy merchandise
they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast
sinned; therefore will I cast thee as profane out of the moun-
tain of God. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty,
thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness.
Thou has defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine ini-
quities, by the iniquity of thy traftick ; therefore will I bring
14* ... v
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BISHOP NEWTON
forth a fire from (lie midst of thoc, it shall devour thee, and I
will lu iiu; iIh'u (o ashes upon the earlh, in the sight of all them
thai behold Iheo. All they that know thee among the people,
shall he a-touished at thee ; thou shalt be a terror, and never
shall thou be anymore."
XII. THE PROniECJES CONCERNING EGYPT.
ITS GYPT is one of the first and most famous countries that we
1A ic;ul of in history. In the Hebrew Scriptures it, is called
Jfizraiui and the land of Ham, having been first, inhabited after
the deluge by Noah's youngest son, Ham or Hammon, and by
his son jlizraim. The name of Egypt is of more uncertain deri-
vation. It appears that the rher was so called in 1 Homer's
time ; and from thence, as Ilesychhis imagines, the name might
be derived to the country. Others more probably conceive
that the meaning of the name 2 jEgyptus is a Ta Cuphti, the land
of Cuphti, as it was formerly called by the Egyptians them-
selves and their neighbours the Arabians. All agree in this,
that the kingdom of Egypt was very ancient ; but some have
curried this antiquity to an extravagant and fabulous height,
their dvnasties being utterly irreconcileable to reason and his-
tory b >;h, and no ways to be solved or credited but by suppos-
ing that they extend beyond the deluge, and that, they contain
tiiM catalogues of several contemporary, as well as of some suc-
cessive kings and kingdoms. It is certain, that in the days of
Joseph, if not, before those in the days of Abraham, it was a
great and nourishing kingdom. There are monuments of its
greatness yet, remaining to the surprise and astonishment of
all posterity, of which as we know not the time of their erec-
tion, so in all probability we shall never know the time of their
destruction.
This country was also celebrated for its wisdom, no less than
for its antiquity. It was, as I may call it, the great academy
of the earlier ages. Hither the wits and sages of Greece and
other countries repr.ired, and imbibed their learning at this
fountain. It is mentioned to the commendation of Moses,
(Acts vii. 22,) that he "was learned in all the wisdom of the
Egyptians :" and the highest character given of Solomon's
1 Horn. Ortvs. xiv. 257, 259.
Tlcinrraloi <?* AtyvTrov ivp Eirrjv
\lff0af.
Quintfi-die autcm ad rfZgyptum pulchnjlu-
entcm venimus :
Stubii vero in JEzypto flui^o naves remis
utrinqne-agitalus.
Hesychius: AlyvrToc, b NttXoj 6 Tora-
atp 1 ov Kai ff X^? a T ^ v vciartp^v
Aiyvnros hh'/^tj. JEgyptus, JVilus jfuvius ;
a quo ipsa rcgio Tecenlioribus appellata est
JEqyptus.
2 'Mude's Works, b. 1, disc. 50, p. 281.
Hoffmanni Lexicon, &c.
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163
wisdom, (1 Kings iv. 30,) is that it, " excelled tlic wisdom of all
flic children of the cast country, and all the wisdom of Egypt."
But with tin's wisdom, and this greatness, R was early corrupted ;
and was as much the parent of superstition, as it was the mis-
tress of learning; and the one as well as the oilier were from
thence propagated and diffused over other countries. It was
indeed the grand corrupter of the world, the source of polytheism
and idolatry to several of the eastern, and to most of the more
western nations ; and degenerated at last to such monstrous
and beastly worship, that we shall scarcely find a parallel in
all history.
However, this was the country where the children of Israel
were in a manner born and bred; and it must be said they
were much perverted by their education, and retained a fond-
ness for the idols of Egypt ever afterwards. Several of
Moses's laws and institutions were plainly calculated to wean
them from, and to guard them against, the manners and customs
of the Egyptians. But still in their hearts and affections they
were much inclined to return into Egypt. Even Solomon
married his wife from thence. And upon all occasions they
courted the friendship and alliance of Egypt rather than of
any of the neighbouring powers. Which prejudice of theirs
was the more extraordinary, as the Egyptians generally treated
them very injuriously. They oppressed them with most cruel
servitude in Egypt. They gave them leave to depart, and then
pursued them as fugitives. Shishak king of Egypt came up
against Jerusalem, (1 Kings xiv. 25, 26,) and plundered it.
And in all their leagues and alliances Egypt was to them as
"a broken reed," (Isa. xxxvi. 6,) "whereon if a man lean, it
will go into his hand and pierce it." Upon all these accounts
we might reasonably expect that Egypt would be the subject
of several prophecies, and we shall not be deceived in our ex-
pectation.
It is remarkable that the prophecies uttered against any city
or country, often carry the inscription of the burden of that city
or country. The prophecies against Nineveh, Babylon, and
Tyre, were inscribed, (Nahum i. 1,) "the burden of Nineveh;"
(Isa. xiii. 1,) "the burden of Babylon;" and (Isa. xxiii. 1,)
" the burden of Tyre :" and so here likewise, (Isa. xix. I,) the
prophecies against Egypt have the title of "the burden of
Egypt." And by burden is commonly understood a threatening
burdensome prophecy, big with ruin and destruction, which like
a dead weight is hung upon a city or country to sink it. But the
word in the original is of more general import and signification.
Sometimes it signifies a prophecy at large : as the prophecies
of Habakkuk and Malachi are entitled "the burden which
Habakkuk the prophet did see," and " the burden of the word
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BISHOP NEWTON
of the Lord in Israel by Malachi :" and it is rendered a vision
otprophr.rtf in tlic Sepluagint and other ancient versions. Some-
times it signifies a prophecy of good as well as of evil: as it
was said of the false prophets who prophesied peace when there
was no peace, (Lament, ii. 1 J,) "Thy prophets have seen vain
ami foolish, thing's for thee, they have seen for thee false bur-
dens and Zaehariah's prophecy of (lie restoration and triumphs
of the Jews in the latter days is entitled, (Zech. xii. 1,) "the
burden of the word of (lie Lord for Israel." Sometimes it is
translated a prophecy, where there is no prophecy, but only some
grave moral sayings or sentences, as, (Prov. xxx. 1,) "the words
of Agur the son of Jakeh, even the prophecy ;" and again, (Prov.
xxxi. 1,) "the words of King Lemuel, the prophecy that his
mother taught him." We may farther observe that the word
is used of the author of the prophecy, as well as of the subject
of it ; and there is " the burden of the Lord," and " the burden
of the word of the Lord," as well as " the burden of Babylon,"
and " the burden of Egypt." We may be certain, too, that this
title was affixed to the prophecies by the prophets themselves,
and not by the scribes who collected their writings afterwards,
because it appears from Jeremiah, (xxiii. 33, &c.) that the scoffers
and infidels of his time made a jest aud derision of it ; and there-
fore they are forbidden to mention it any more as being a term
of ambiguous signification ; and instead of inquiring, "What is
the burden of the Lord," they arc commanded to say, " What
hath the Lord answered ] and what hath the Lord spoken 1"
The word 3 in the original is derived from a verb that signifies to
take up, to lift up, to bring forth, and the like ; and the proper
meaning of it is any weighty important matter or sentence, which
ought not to lie neglected, but is worthy of being carried in the
memory, and deserves to be lifted up and uttered with emphasis.
Such, eminently such, are all these prophecies, and those relating
to Egypt as well as the rest. For they comprise the principal
revolutions of that kingdom from the times of the prophets to
this day.
I. The first great revolution, that we shall mention, was the
conquest of this kingdom by Nebuchadnezzar, which was par-
ticularly foretold by Jeremiah and Ezekiel. These two pro-
phets have both employed several sections or chapters" upon
this occasion. Jeremiah was carried into Egypt, and there fore-
told (chop, xliii.) the conquest of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar
king of Babylon : and some of his prophecies are entitled,
(xlvi. 13,) " The word that the Lord spake to Jeremiah the pro-
phet, how Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon should come and
smite the land of Egypt." Ezekiel also declares, (xxx. 10, 11,)
" Thus saith the Lord God, I will also make the multitude of
3 Ki'D a Ni'; '"I'l, attulil, pwlvlit, &c. Buxtorf.
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
165
Egypt to cense by the band of Nebuchadnezzar king of Bnby-
lon : lie and bis people with him, the terrible of the nation?:,
shall be brought !o destroy the land ; and ihey shall draw their
swords against, Egypt, and fdl the land with the slain;" and
the conquest, of this kingdom was promised to Nebuchadnezzar
as a reward for his services against Tyre, which after a long
siege he took and destroyed, but was disappointed of the spoil,
as was observed in the foregoing dissertation, (Ezek. xxix.
IS, 10 :) " Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to
serve a great service against. Tyrus : every head was made bald,
and every shoulder was peeled: yet had he no wages, nor his
army, for Tyrus, for the service that he had served against it.
Therefore thus saith 1 lie Lord God, Behold, I will give the land
of Egypt, unto Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall
take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey, and it
shall be the wages for his army."
Now for this early transaction we have the testimonies 4 of
Megasthenes and Bcrosus, two heathen historians, who lived
about 300 years before Christ, one of whom affirms expressly
that Nebuchadnezzar conquered the greatest, part of Africa, and
the other affirms it in effect, in saying that when Nebuchad-
nezzar heard of the death of his father, having settled his affairs
in Egypt, and committed the captives whom he took in Egypt
to the care of some of his friends, to bring them after him, he
hasted directly to Babylon. If neither Herodotus nor Diodorus
Siculus have recorded this transaction, what 5 Scaliger said of
one of them may be very justly applied to both, that those Egyp-
tian priests, who informed them of the Egyptian affairs, taught,
them only those things which made for the honour of their
nation ; other particulars of their idleness, servitude, and the
tribute, which they paid to the Chaldreans, they concealed.
Josephus, we may presume, had good authorities, and was sup-
ported by earlier historians, when he 6 asserted, that Nebuchad-
nezzar having subdued Ccele-Syria, waged war against the Am-
* Knra<TTpc\pa<T$ai yaa atir6v <f»]r/[ \if\brjc
rnv toWi'iv Earn enim vastaase (licit mag-
num JJbytB partem. Megaphones apiul Jo-
seph. Antiq. 1. 10, c. 11, § 1. AiffJo/icMS
Sc utr* ov iroXuv xpavov tjjv tov ffarpoj rcXeu-
tiji> Xdjovxooovocoaov, Kai Karaarriaa; ra
Kara rnv XtyvxTOv irpayuaTa, K. r. .\. Ne-
buchodonosorus vero, non nmlto post patris
mono cognita, rchusque in ^Egypto ordina-
te, &o. Borosus, ibid. Vid. etiatn Euse-
bii. Pi :i"p. Evangel. L 9, c. 40 et 41.
5 ' <iuod perspicue indicatur Jeremiae, id
Herodotus ignoravit: quia sacerdotes illi
^Egyptii, qui oi sciscitanti de rebus iEgyp-
tiacts respondebant, ea, quae ad laudem gen-
tis faciebant, tantuin docuerunt ; caetera quae
ad iliorum lgnaviara, servitutem et tributa,
qua 1 Clialdreis pendebant, tacuerr.nt. 1 Sca-
lig. in Fragni. p. 11.
^ToaTWEt b ahros [N a ^ov^ohov6ao-
pof] tnt Tt)v KolXriv Tvpiav ' Kai KdruffyiSr
aiiTrjv, iiro\tuT]o~E Kai 'Aufjavtrac Kai Mwn.iff.
Tac. Tloirjcdutvos Of VTTi/Koa raera rti 'c'0vll s
lvi$a\ev etc riiv Aiyvvrov KarattTpcZoptvoi
airriv, Kai rdv \iiv rdrt fiainXia KTtii ti ' Kara-
ori'iaas Si erepov, k. t. \. Evercitum ijj.se
efluxit in Cmlen- Syriam ; eaque occitpattt, it
Ainrnanitis ct JMoabilis bclluvt iiuutit. Isti.i
autem gentil-us in poiesialem suam reducti.^
ivipcUmifer.it in JEgijptum, ut ipsam cieliel-
larel, ac regem quidcin qui tunc, regnabat, oc-
cidit ; alio vero constitute-, Sic. Joseph. Antic.
1. 10, c. 9, § 7.
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BISHOP NEWTON
monites and Moabitcs ; anil liaving conquered lliem, lie invaded
Egypt, and slew the king who then reigned, and appointed
anol he r.
It is indeed most highly probable that A pries was dethroned,
and Ainasis constituted king by Nebuchadnezzar; and I think
we may infer as much from Herodotus himself. The name of
the king of Egypt at that time, according to jeremiah, was Pha-
raoh- 1 fophra, and lie can be none other than the Apries of Hero-
dotus. Ezekiol represents him as an arrogant, impious prince,
(xxix. 3,) as "the great dragon, (or crocodile,) that lieth in the
midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is my own, and I
have made it for myself:" and agreeably hereto, 7 Herodotus in-
forms us, that Apries proudly and wickedly boasled of liaving
established his kingdom so surely, that it was not ill the power
of any God to dispossess him of it. However, Jeremiah foretold
that he should be taken and slain by his enemies, (xliv. 30:)
"Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will give Pharaoh- Hophra
king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand
of them that seek his life, as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah
into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his enemy,
and that sought his life :" and accordingly 8 Apries was taken
and strangled by Amasis, who was by Nebuchadnezzar consti-
tuted king in his room.
Ezekiel foretold that the country should be desolated forty
years, and the people carried captive into other countries,
(xxix. 12:) "I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the
midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities among
the cities that are laid waste, shall he desolate forty years ; and
I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will dis-
perse them through the countries." We cannot prove indeed
from heathen authors, that this desolation of the country con-
tinued exactly forty years, though it is likely enough that this,
as well as the other conquered countries, did not shake off the
Babylonian yoke till the time of Cyrus, which was about forty
years after the conquest of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar : but we
are assured by 9 Berosus, that Nebuchadnezzar took several cap-
tives in Egypt, and carried them to Babylon ; and from 1 Me-
gasthenes we learn, that he transplanted and settled others in
Pontus. Sc true it is, that they were " scattered among the
7 'ATrpfEto tie r\tytTal ttvat r)H i) tiliivota,
ur/c' ait ii6v piv pi^iva Gvvaajal Truncal ,t)$
HaoiXritris ' oi'iraj arr^uA/u)? fuurij ifyilff-Sui
M6ku. Fcrtur Apries ea fuisse persuusione,
tie ileum uuidem ullum passe sibi uttimere reg-
num : adeo videbatur sibi iltud slabilisse.
Herod. 1. 2, § 169.
8 Herud. ibid. Diodorus Siculus, 1. 1,
o. 68.
3 Berosus apud Joseplium, 1. 10, c. 11, § 1.
Kai rot'? at^a^rovf — — T&v Kar& Tr)l
A'iyvTTTov tOi'wy, cvvrd^as Tim rwv 0(Aa)V — •
at-uKojii^nv th ttjv B«6'uAu)vkiv. ^— XJt et
cuptit:is ex JiZgypli poputis, daloque in
muiulutis cuidam ex amiciSj vX cos in
Baby to iiiam departaret.
1 'Att6$ucuov ahre&v th ra fic^ia roir
XldvTotj KuToiKiirui. Coloiiias in dextrum Pon-
ti planum diportasse. Megaslhenes apud
Lusebuun, Pruip. Evang. 1. 9, c. 41.
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nations, and dispersed through the countries," and might upon
the dissolution of the Babylonian empire return to their native
country.
II. Not long after this was another memorable revolution,
and tin; country was invaded and subdued by Cambyses and
the Persians, which is the main subject of t he IJJt.Ii chapter of
Isaiah. Some parts indeed of this prophecy have a near affinity
with those of Jeremiah and Ezekiel concerning the conquest of
Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar, and St. Jerome and others apply it
to Nebuchadnezzar : but this prophecy, as well as several others,
might admit of a double completion, and be fulfilled at both
those periods. For this prophecy of Isaiah is a general repre-
sentation of the calamities of the notion; it includes various
particulars ; it is applicable to Nebuchadnezzar and the Baby-
lonians, as well as to Cambyses and the Persians. They might
therefore be both intended and comprehended in it: but the lat-
ter, I conceive, were principally intended, and for this reason ;
because the deliverance of the Egyptians by some great con-
queror, and their conversion afterwards to the true religion, which
are foretold in I be latter part of this chapter, were events conse-
quent to the dominion of the Persians, and not to that of the
Babylonians.
The prophet begins with declaring that the conquest of
Egypt should be swift and sudden, and that the idols of
Egypt should be destroyed, (ver. 1:) " Behold the Lord rideth
upon a swift, cloud, and shall come into Egypt, and the idols
of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt
shall melt in the midst of it." The same thing is foretold of
Nebuchadnezzar by Jeremiah, (xliii. 11, &c :) "And when he
cometh, he shall smite the land of Egypt — And I will kindle a
fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them,
and carry them away captives — He shall break also the images
of Bethsliemesh, that is in the land of Egypt ; and the houses
of the gods of the Egyptians shall he burn with fire :" and again
by Ezekiel, (xxx. 13:) "Thus saith the Lord God, I will also
destroy the idols, and I will cause their images to cease out of
Noph," or, Memphis. We are not furnished with ancient au-
thors sufficient to prove these particulars (however probable)
in the history of Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians; but
we have ample proofs with relation to Cambyses and the Per-
sians. The first attempt made by Cambyses was upon * Pelu-
siurn, a strong town at the entrance of Egypt, and the key of
the kingdom ; and he succeeded by the stratagem of placing
before his army a great number of dogs, sheep, cats, and other
animals, which being held sacred by the Egyptians, not one of
them would cast a javelin, or shoot an arrow that way ; and so
2 Polyaeni Stratagem. L 7 c. 9.
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BISHOP NEWTON
the (own was stormed and taken in a manner without resist-
ance, lie' Healed the gods of Egypt with marvellous contempt,
laughed at the people, and chastised (lie priests for worship-
ping such deilies. He slew Apis, or the sacred ox which the
Egyptians worshipped, with his own hand ; and burnt and de-
molished their other idols and temples; and would likewise, if
he had not been prevented, have destroyed the famous temple
d!' Jupiter Amnion. Oc.hustoo, who was another king of Persia,
and subdued the Egyptians again after they had revolted, 4 plun-
dered their temples, and caused Apis to be slain and served up
in a banquet to him and his friends.
The prophet, foretells, that I hey should also be miserably dis-
tracted with civil wars, (ver. 2:) "And I will set. the Egyptians
against the Egyptians; and they shall light everyone against
his brother, and every one against his neighbour, city against
city, and kingdom against kingdom ;" vfyof sV; vdpov, as t he Seventy
translate it, province against province, Egypt being divided
into jtf/ioi, prefectures or provinces. Vitringa and others apply
this to the time of the r 'Ma;npx la or the reign of the twelve kings,
the anarchy that preceded, and the civil wars that ensued,
wherein the genius and fortune of Psammitichus prevailed
over the rest. But it may perhaps be more properly applied
to what agrees better in point of time with other parts of the
prophecy, 6 the civil wars between Apries and Amasis at the
time of Nebuchadnezzar's invasion, and the 7 civil wars be-
tween Tachos, Nectanebus, and the Mendesian, a little before
the country was finally subdued by Ochus.
It is no wonder that in such distractions and distresses as
these, the Egyptians being naturally a cowardly people, should
be destitute of " counsel," and that " the spirit of Egypt should
fail in the midst thereof," as the prophet foretells, (ver. 3;) and
that being also a very superstitious people, " they should seek
to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have fami-
liar spirits, and to the wizards." But their divination was all in
vain ; it was their fate to be subdued and oppressed by cruel
lords and tyrants, (ver. 4.) "And the Egyptians will I give over
into the hand of a cruel lord ; and a fierce king shall rule over
them, saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts." This is the most es-
sential part of the prophecy; and this Grotius and others un-
derstand of Psaniniitichus : but it doth not appear from history,
that Psammitichus was such a fierce and cruel tyrant; on the
contrary he re-established the government, 8 and reigned long
3 H.Tod. I. 3, 5 27, &c. $ 37, &c. Strabo, ■ Herod. 1. 2, § 169. Diod. Sic. ) 1, c. 68.
I. 17. p. 1158. Justin. 1. 1, c. 9. ' Ph,i !t rch. in Aaesilao, 6 37, 59. Diod.
'Diod. Sic. I. 16, c. 51. Plutarch dc Si?. I. 15, c. 92.
lsid. «| Osir. § 31. • Herod. I. 2, § 153—157. Diod. Sic
1 Ili-rod. t. 2 § 147— 151. Diod. Sic. 1. 1, c. 66. Vide etiam Marshami Chron.
1. **■ 66- Sujc. 17, p. 505.
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and prosperous]}* for Egypt in many respects. It may with
greater liulli and propriety In; understood of Nebuchadnezi*.ai
and (lie Babylonians, whose dominion was very grievous (o the
conquered nations: but with (he greatest propriety and justice
it inav be applied to the Persians, and especially to Cambyses
and Ochus; one of whom put (he yoke upon the neck of the
Egyptians, and (he other riveted it there; and who are both
branded in history for cruel tyrants and monsters of men. The
Egyptians said that Cambyses, after his killing of Apis, was
stricken with madness; but his actions, saith 9 Dr. Prideaux
after Herodotus, showed him to have been mad long before.
He could hardly have performed those great exploits, if he had
been a downright madman: and yet it is certain that he was
very much like one ; there was a mixture of barbarity and mad-
ness in all his behaviour. Ochus was the crudest and worst
of all the kings of Persia, and was so destructive and oppressive
to Egypt in particular, that his favourite eunuch 1 Bagoas, who
was an Egyptian, in revenge of his injured country, poisoned
him. The favours shown to himself could not compensate for
the wrongs done to his comply. None other allegation is wauling
to prove, that the Persian yoke was galling and intolerable to
(he Egyptians, than their frequent revolts and rebellions, which
served still but to augment their misery, and enslave them more
and more.
The prophet then proceeds to set forth in figurative language,
(vcr. 5 — 10,) the consequences of this subjection and slavery,
the poverty and want, the mourning and lamentation, the con-
fusion and misery, which should be entailed on them and their
posterity; and afterwards he recounts (ver. 11 — 17) the imme-
diate causes of these evils, the folly of the princes and rulers
who valued themselves upon their wisdom, and the cowardice
and elleminacy of the people in genera). These things will
plainly appear to any one by perusing the history of l he nation,
but it would carry us beyond all bounds to prove them by an
induction of particulars. In general it may be said, that Egypt
would not have become a prey to so many foreign enemies, but
through the excessive weakness of the Egyptians both in coun-
sel and in action. They had not the courage even to defend
themselves. They trusted chiefly to their Grecian and other
mercenaries, who instead of defending, were often the first to
betray them.
III. The next memorable revolution was effected by Alex-
ander the Great, who subverted the Persian empire in Egypt
3 Prid. Connect, part 1, b. 3, Anno 525. Cambyses insaniit ; quum ne prius quidem
Cambyses 5. Herod, i. 3, § 30. Kafi/Jiio-ijs compos mentis faisset.
6c ((Eif Xtyovci AlyuTTTiot) aitrtKa Sid tovto 1 'Diod. Sic. U 17, c, 5. Pliant Yar.
rd dcu-tyui i/uir;; f.jr oi/u t:q6tioov (ppcvijons. Hist. 1.6, c. 8.
Ob hoc scdus (ut JEgyptii aiunt) continue
15 W
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BISHOP NEWTON
as well as in ;dl oilier places: and this event, I entirely agree
wiih Viiiii;u i, is pointed out to us in this same lOlh chapter of
Isaiah, li is also foretold, that about the same time several of
the Ej 'pilaus should be converted to the true religion and the
wor-hip of (lie God of Israel. And as these events, which are
S i it- -,i yvis of the latter part of the chapter, (vcr. IS — 25,) fol-
lowed upon (he subversion of the Persian empire, we may be
>:;i!~ii'.'d, ihat our application of the former part of the chapter
1. 1 ;he Persians in particular, was not a misapplication of the
p;phecy. "In that day," that is, after that day, after that
lime, as (he phrase signifies, and should be translated in several
passages of the prophets, "shall live cities in the land of Egypt
speak the language of Canaan/' profess the religion of the
Hebrews; as in Zephaniah, (iii. 9,) "I will turn to (he people
a pure language," signifies, I will restore to the people a pure
religion, "that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to
serve him with one consent. And swear to the Lord of hosts :
one shall be called the city of destruction," or of the sun, as it is
in the margin of our Bibles, meaning Fleliopolis, a famous city of
Egypt. " In that day shall there b<^an altar to the Lord in the
midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to
the Lord," such as Jacob erected (Gen. xxviii. 18) at Bethel:
" And it shall be for a sign, and for a witness unto the Lord of
hosts in the land of Egypt ; for they shall cry unto the Lord
because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour and
a great one, and he shall deliver them. And the Lord shall be
known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in
that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, (hey shall
vow a vow unto the Lord, and perform it." The prophet de-
scribes the worship of future times, according to the rites and
ceremonies of his own time: "And the Lord shall smite Egypt,
he shall smite and heal it, and they shall return even to the
Lord, and he shall be entreated of them, and shall heal them."
The prophet then proceeds to show, that Assyria or Syria and
Egypt, which used to be at great enmity with each other, shall
be united in the same worship by the intermediation of Israel,
and they three shall be a blessing in the earth : "In that day
shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the
Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria,
and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. In that day
shall Israel be the third with Egypt, and with Assyria, even a
blessing in the midst of the land : Whom the Lord of hosts shall
bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt, my people, and Assyria the work
of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance."
Here it is clearly foretold, that a great prince, a saviour sent by
God, from a foreign country, should deliver the Egyptians from
their Persian oppressors, and heal their country, which was smit-
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ten of God and afflicted : and who could this l>e but Alexander,
who is always distinguished by the iijuik; of Alexander tlie Great,
and whose first successor iu Egypt was called lite great Ptolemy,
and Ptolemy Ssoter or the saviour ! Upon Alexander's first com
ing into Egypt, the *pocple all cheerfully submitted to him
out of haired to the Persians, so that he became master of the
country without any opposition. For this reason he treated them
Willi humanity and kindness, built a city there which after his
own name he called Alexandria, appointed one of their own
country for their civil governor, and permitted them to be go-
veined by their own laws and customs. By these changes and
regulations, and by the prudent and gentle administration of some
oi'tbe first Ptolemies, Egypt revived, trade and learning flourished,
and for a while peace and plenty blessed the land.
But it is more largely foretold, that about the same time (he
true religion and the worship of the God of Israel should bc<rin
to spread and prevail in the land of Egypt : and what event was
ever more unlikely to happen than the conversion of a people
so sunk and lost in superstition and idolatry of the worst and
grossest kind 1 It is certain that many of the Jews, after Nebu-
chadnezzar hail taken Jerusalem, fled into Egypt, and carried
along with them Jeremiah the prophet, (Jer. xliii. &c.) who
there uttered most of his prophecies concerning the conquest
of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar. From thence some knowledge
of God, and some notices of the prophecies might easily be de-
rived to the Egyptians. It is said that this alteration should
be effected principally in five cities. If a certain number be not
here put for an uncertain, I should conclude with 3 Le Clerc,
that the five cities, wherein the worship of the one true God was
received, were Heliopolis, which ia particularly named in the
text, and the four others, which are mentioned in Jeremiah,
(xliv. 1,) as the places of the residence of the Jews, Migdol or
Magdolum, Tahpanhes or Daphne, JVoju/i or Memphis, and the
fourth in the country of Pathros or Thebais, not mentioned by
name, perhaps Amon-no or Diospolis. There the Jews cbiefly
resided at that time ; and though they were generally very
wicked men, and disobedient to the word of the Lord, and upon
' Diod. Sic. 1. 17, c. 49. Arrian. 1.3,0.1,
&o. Quint. Curtius, 1. 4, c. 7 el 8.
3 ' Si liceret conjicere de nominibus quin-
quu [iiuatuor] aliurum urbium, dicere.m eas
esse, (j«:e memorantur Jerema? c. xliv. 2.
Migilol, (Herodoto Magdolus,) Thachphan-
clios, (cidem Daphne,) Noph sive Memphis,
et quarla ill terra Pathros seu Palhyride,
qua? nomine non appellator, forte Amon-no
sive Diospolis. In lis habitarunt Juda;i, qui
Chaldtfiorum metu post captam Jerosoli-
mam in .dS^ypiuin migrarant, eoque invitum
Jcremiam abduxerant. Quibus, m.probis
qiiippe, licet extrema mala iis propheta mi-
nelur, potuerunt tamen nonnulli pii adniisti
esse, qui valicinia ejus .fEgyptiis aperuerint,
et ipsi, cum ea impleta vidissent, Judaieam
religionem amplexi sint. Quod intellijji no-
lim de incolis omnibus eorum locorum"; sed
de nonnullis ; quod saiis esl, ut dicentur
quinque urbes "lingua Chanahanitideloquu-
luraz, et per Jeliovem juratura." ' C orament,
in locum,
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BISHOP NEWTON
thai account the prophet Jeremiah denounced flic heaviest judg-
ments ntrainst (hem ; vet. pome good men might be mingled
anions them, who mighl op<'ii his prophecies 1o (lie Egyptians',
and Ihev themselves, when (hey saw them fulfilled, might,
embrace the Jewish religion. Put this is to be understood
not of all the inhabitants of those places, but only of some ;
which is sufficient to justify the expression of "five cities
speaking the language of Canaan, and swearing by the Lord of
hosts."
Alexander the Great 4 transplanted many of the Jews into his
new city of Alexandria, and allowed them privileges and immu-
nities equal to those of the Macedonians themselves. Ptolemy
Boter 5 carried more of (hem into Egypt, who there enjoyed such
advantages, that not a few of the other Jews went, (hither of
their own accord, the goodness of (he country and the liberality
of Ptolemy alluring them. Ptolemy Philadelphia 8 redeemed
and released the captive Jews ! and in his reign or his father's,
the books of Moses were translated into Greek, and afterwards
the other parts of the Old Testament. The third Ptolemy, 7
called Euergctes, having subdued all Syria, did not sacrifice to
the gods of Egypt in acknowledgment of his victory ; but
coming to Jerusalem, made his oblations to God after 1he man-
ner of the Jews : and the king's example, no doubt, would in-
fluence many of his subjects. The sixth Ptolemy, 8 called Phi-
lometor, and his queen Cleopatra committed the whole ma-
nagement of the kingdom to two Jews, Onias and Dositheus,
who were their chief ministers and generals, and had the prin-
cipal direction of all affairs, both civil and military. This Onias
obtained a licence from the king and queen to build a temple
for the Jews in Egypt like that at Jerusalem, alleging for tliis
purpose this very prophecy of Isaiah, that there should " be an
altar (o the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt :" and the
king and queen in their rescript make honourable mention of
the law and of the prophet Isaiah, and express a dread of sin-
ning against God. The place, chosen for the building of this
temple, was in the prefecture of Heliopolis or the city of the sun,
which place is likewise mentioned in the prophecy. It was
built after the model of (he temple at Jerusalem, but not so
sumptuous and magnificent. He himself was made high-priest ;
other priests and Levites were appointed for the ministration ;
and divine service was daily performed there in the same man-
ner as at Jerusalem, and continued as long ; for Vespasian,
4 Joseph. An B-11. Jud. I. 2, c. IS, § 7.
Contra Apion. 1. 2, § 4.
* Joseph. Antic|. 1. 12, c. 1. JTer.it:mt3
*pmi Joseph. Contra Apion. I. 1, § 22.
* Joseph. Anii'j, 1. 12. «:. 2. Contra Apion.
§ A. IJrxly de Vers. Grac. I. 2, c. 2.
* Joseph. Contra Apion. 1. 2, § 5.
8 Joseph. Contra Apion. ibid. Antiq.
1. 13, c.3. De Boll. Jud. 1. 1, c. ], 6 1,
1. 7, c. 10, § 2.
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having destroyed the temple at Jerusalem, ordered this! also to be
demolished.
By these means the. Lord m\ht in some, di'give have been hnomx
to Kzypt, and the Egyptians must hum Kitmm the Lord: ami
without douht t hero must have been many proselytes among
lliem. Among those wlio came up to (lie fea-4 oi' Pentecost,
(Ai ls ii. 10,) there arc particularly mcnti< d "the dwellers in
Egypt and in the parts of Libya about Gyrene, Jews and pro-
selytes." Nay, from the instance of Candaco's eunuch, (Acts
viii. 27,) we may infer that there were proselytes even beyond
Egypt, in Ethiopia. Thus were (lie Jews settled and encou-
raged in Egypt, insomuch that Philo 9 represents their number
as not less than a hundred myriads, or ten hundred thousand
men. Nor were they less favoured or rewarded for their ser-
vices by the kings of Sysia. Sclcucus Nicator 1 made them
free of the cities which he built in Asia and the lower Syria,
and of Antioch itself, the capital of his kingdom; and granted
the same rights and privileges to them as to the Greeks and
Macedonians. Antiochus the Great 2 published several decrees
in favour of the Jews, both of those who inhabited Jerusalem,
and of tho.se who dwelt in Mesopotamia and Babylonia. Jose-
phus 3 saith that the Jews gained many proselytes at Antioch.
And thus by the means of the Jews and proselytes dwelling in
Egypt and Syria, Israel, Egypt, and Syria, were in some measure
united in the same worship. But this was more fully accom-
plished when these countries became Christian, and so were
made members of the same body in Christ Jesus. And we
piously hope and believe, that it will still receive its most perfect
completion in the latter days, when Mohammedism shall be
rooted out, and Christianity shall again nourish in these coun-
tries, " when the fulness of the Gentiles shall come in, and all
Israel shall be saved."
IV. But there is a remarkable prophecy of Ezekiel, which
comprehends in little the fate of Egypt from the days of Ne-
buchadnezzar to the present. For therein it is foretold, that
after the desolation of the land and the captivity of trie people
by Nebuchadnezzar, (xxix. 14, 15,) it "should be a base king-
dom : it shall be the basest of the kingdoms, neither shall it
exalt itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish
them, that they shall no more rule over the nations :" and again
in the next chapter, (ver. 12, 13,) " I will sell the land into the
hand of the wicked, and I will make the land waste, and all
that is therein, by the hand of strangers ; and there shall be
no more a prince of the land of Egypt." Such general prophe-
cies, like general rules, are not to be understood so strictly and
9 Ovk a-rrodtovci pvpidSutv hardy In 2 Joseph, ibid.
Flaccum. > De Be u_ Iud i 7 c. 3 \ 3.
1 Joseph. Anliq. 1. 12, c. 3.
15*
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BISHOP NEWTON
absolutely, as if (hey could not possibly admit, of any kind of
limitation or exception whatever. It is sufficient if they hold
good for the most part, and are confirmed by the experience of
mnn\~asres, though perhaps not without an exception of a few
years. The prophets exhibit a general view of things, without
entering into (he particular exceptions. It was predicted, (Gen.
ix. 2o,) that "Canaan should be a servant of servants unto his
brethren;" and generally Ids posterity were subjected to the
descendants of bis brethren: but yet they were not always
so; upon some occasions they were superior; and Hannibal
and the Carthaginians obtained several victories over the Ro-
mans, though they were totally subdued at last. In like man-
ner it was not intended by this prophecy, that Egypt should
ever afterwards, in every point of time, but only that it should
for much the greater part of time, be " a base kingdom," be
tributary and subject to strangers. This is the purport and
meaning of the prophecy ; and the truth of it will best appear
by a short deduction of the history of Egypt from that time to
this.
Amasis was left king by Nebuchadnezzar ; and as he held
his crown by the permission and allowance of the Babylonians,
there is no room to doubt that he paid them tribute for it. Be-
rosus, the Chakkean historian, 4 in a fragment preserved by Jo-
sephus, speaketh of Nebuchadnezzar's reducing Egypt to his
obedience, and afterwards of his settling the affairs of the coun-
try, and carrying captives from thence to Babylon. By his con-
stituting and settling the affairs of Egypt, nothing less could be
meant than his appointing the governors, and the tribute that
they should pay to him : and by carrying some Egyptians cap-
tive to Babylon, he plainly intended not only to weaken the
country, but also to have them as hostages to secure the obe-
dience of the rest, and the payment of their tribute. If Hero-
dotus hath given no account of these transactions, the reason
is evident, according to the observation cited before from Sca-
liger ; the Egyptian priests would not inform him of things
which were for the discredit of their nation. However we mav,
I think, confirm the truth of this assertion, even by Herodotus's
own narration. The Persians succeeded in right of the Baby-
lonians : and it appears 5 by Cyrus's sending for the best phy-
sician in Egypt to Amasis, who was obliged to force one from
bis wife and children; and by Cambyses's demanding the
daughter of Amasis, not for a wife, but for a mistress ; by these
instances, I say, it appears that they considered him as their
* Kai Karavrficas rci Kara rriv KtyvVTov
Todyuara Kal rr/v ^woar, Kai rows at-v-
fia\torovs — rwv Kara rriv Kiyvirrov IQv&v,
r. r. \. Rebusq. in JE^ypto at reli'iua red-
one ordinatto, ul et captivis — ex jEgypli po-
pulh, fro. Joseph. Antiquit. 1. 10, c 11
5 Herod. 1. 3, § 1.
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tributary anil subject. And indeed no reason can be n signed
for tin: strong resentment of the Persians a irninst Amasis, and
their horrid barbarity to bis dead bodv, so probable and satisfac-
tory, as bis driving revolted find rebelled against tbeni. Hero-
dotus bimself 6 mentions tbe league and alliance, wbicli Amasis
made wit li Croesus king of Lydia, against Cyrus.
Upon tbe ruins, of tbe Babylonian empire Cyrus erected (lie
Persian. Xenopbon hath written tbe life of tbis extraordinary
man : and be allirms 7 both in tbe introduction and near tbe con-
clusion of his history, that Cyrus also conquered Egypt, ail< l
made it part of his empire; and there is not a more faithful, as
well as a more elegant historian, ("nan Xenopbon. But whether
Cyrus did or not, it is universally allowed that his 5 son Cam-
byses did conquer Egypt, and deprived Psammeniius of his
crown, to which he had newly succeeded upon the death of his
father Amasis. Cambyscs purposed to have made Psammeni-
tus administrator of tbe kingdom under him, as it was the cus-
tom of the Persians to do to the conquered princes: but Psam-
menitus forming schemes to recover the kingdom, and being
convicted thereof, was forced to drink bull's blood, and thereby
put an end to bis life. The Egyptians groaned under the yoke
near forty years. Then they revolted 9 toward the latter end of
the reign of Darius, the son of Hystaspes : but his son and suc-
cessor, Xerxes, in the second year of his reign, subdued them
again, and reduced them to a worse condition of servitude than
they had been in under Darius, and appointed his brother Achre-
mencs governor of Egypt. • About four and twenty years after
this, when 1 the Egyptians heard of the troubles in Persia about
the succession to the throne after the death of Xerxes, they re-
volted again at the instigation of Inarus king of Libya; and
having drove away tbe Persian tribute-collectors, they consti-
tuted Inarus their king. Six years were employed in reducing
them to obedience, and all Egypt submitted again to tbe king
Artaxerxes Longitnanus, except Amyrtasus, who reigned in the
fens, whither the Persians could not approach to take him : but
Inarus, the author of these evils, was betrayed to the Persians,
and was crucified. However they 2 permitted his son Thannyra
to succeed his father in the kingdom of Libya ; and Egypt con-
tinued in subjection all the remaining part of the long reign of
Artaxerxes. In the 3 tenth year of Darius Nothus, they revolted
again under the conduct of Amyrtaeus, who sallied out of the
fens, drove the Persians out of Egypt, made himself master of
e Herod. 1. 1, 5 77. ' Thncyd. 1. 1, § 104— 110. Diod. Sic.
* Xenonhon. Cyropsed. 1. 1, c. 1, § 4; et 1. 11, c. 71. 2 Herod. 1. 3, § 15.
). 8, c. 6, § 20. ' Eusebius in Chronico. Usher's Annals,
' Herod. 1.3, § 10—15. A. M. 3590, p. 14G. •Prideaux Connect.
» Herod. 1. 7, § 1 et 7. part 1, b. I, Anno 414.
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BISHOP NEWTON
the country, ruul icigned (here six j T ears; but his son Pausiris, *
as Herodotus in Tonus us, succeeding' him in liis kingdom by the
favour of the Persians; this argues (hat the Persians had again
subdued Egypt, or at least that the king was not established
without (heir consent and approbation. It is certain, that after
this, Egvnt gave much trouble to the Persians. Artaxerxes
Mnemon 5 made several efforts to reconquer it, but all in vain.
It was not totally and finally subdued till the 6 ninth year of the
following reign of Ochus, about 350 years before Christ ; when
Neetanebns, (he last king, fled into Ethiopia, and Ochus became
absolute master of (he country, and having appointed one of his
nobles, named Phercndates, to be his viceroy and governor of
Egypt, ho returned with great glory and immense treasures to
Babylon. Egypt from that lime hath never been able to recover
its liberties. It bath always been subject to strangers. It hath
never been governed by a king of its own. From this last re-
volt of the Egyptians, in the tenth year of Darius Nothus, to
their total subjugation, in the ninth year of Ochus, I think (here
are computed sixty-four years: and this is the only exception of
any significance to the general truth of the prophecy. But what
are sixty-four years compared to two thousand three hundred
and twenty-five 1 for so many years have passed from the con-
quest of Egypt, by Nebuchadnezzar to this time. They are really
as nothing, and not worth mentioning in comparison : and during
these sixty-four years we see that the Egyptians were not en-
tirely independent of (he Persians : Pausiris succeeded his father
Amyrtreus in the kingdom, by their consent and favour : and
during the rest, of the time the Egyptians lived in continual fear
and dread of the Persians, and were either at war with them, or
with one another. And perhaps this part of the prophecy was
not intended to take effect immediately : its completion might be
designed to commence from this period, when the Persians had
totally subdued Egypt, and then there should be "no more a
prince of the land of Egypt."
After the Persians, Egypt came into the hands of the Mace-
donians. It submitted to Alexander the Great without striking
a stroke ; made no attempts at that favourable juncture to re-
cover its liberties, but was content only to change its master.
After the death of Alexander it fell to the share of Ptolemy,
one of his four famous captains, and was governed by his fa-
mily for several generations. The two or three first of the Ptole-
mies were wise and potent princes, but most of the rest were
prodigies of luxury and wickedness. It is 7 Strabo's observa-
« Herod. 1. 3, § 15.
' Diod. Sic. 1. 15, c. 41
« Diod. Sic. 1. 16, c. 51. Usher's Annals,
A.M. 3654, p. 196. "Prid. Connect, part 1,
t. 7, Anno 350.
T 'kiravTEs fiiv oZv ol fitTa Tov Toirov nro-
Xcfiaiov U7TO Tpvtptig t)u(pbapiifooi, %Eipov £7ro-
^irivoavTO ' %l[pi<jTa $' b rirapros, Kai b efiio-
pos, Kai b SjaraTos b AlXijTfc. Omnes post
lertium Ptolcmrzum male regnum gesserunt^
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tion, flint, all after the third Ptolemy governed very ill, being
corrupted hv luxury; but they who governed worst of nil were,
tin; fourth and llio seventh, and the called Auleles. The,
persons here intended by Strabo wen: 8 Ptolemy Philopater, or
the. hirer of his father, so called, (as Justin conceives,) byway of
nntiphrasis, or with a contrary meaning-, because be was a parri-
cide, and murdered both his farther and bis molher; and 9 Ptole-
my Physcon, or the big-bellied, who affected the lille of Euer-
•rrtrs or the benefactor, but the Alexandrians more justly named
him Kahergetcs or the malefactor: and 1 Ptolemy Auleles or the
piper, so denominated because he spent much of his time in play-
ing" on the pipe, and used to contend for the prize in (be public
shows. This kingdom of the Macedonians 2 continued from the
death of Alexander 204 years, and ended in the famous Cleo-
patra, of whom it is not easy to say whether she excelled more
in beauty, or wit, or wickedness.
After the Macedonians, Egypt fell under the dominion of the
Romans. The Romans had either by virtue of treaties, or by
force of arms, obtained great authority there, and were in a man-
ner arbiters of the kingdom before, but after the death of Cleo-
patra, 3 Octavius Ca-sar reduced it into the form of a Roman
province, and appointed Cornelius Callus, the friend of Virgil, to
whom the tenth eclogue is inscribed, the first prefect or governor :
and so it continued to be governed by a prefect or viceroy sent
from Rome, or from Constantinople, when after the division of
the Roman empire it fell to the share of the eastern emperors.
It was first made a province of the Roman empire in the year
30 before Christ, 4 and in this state it remained without much
variation till the year 641 after Christ, that is 670 years in the
whole, from the reign of Augustus Caesar to that of the emperor
Heraclius,
Then it was that the 5 Saracens, in the reign of Omar, their
third emperor, and under the command of Amrou, the son of
Aas, invaded and conquered Egypt, took Misrah, (formerly
Memphis, now Cairo,) by storm, and also Alexandria, after they
had besieged it fourteen months, and had lost twenty-three
thousand men before it ; and the rest of the kingdom soon fol-
lowed the fortune of the capital cities, and submitted to the
conqueror. There is one thing which was effected partly in the
tiLvit prrtliti : omnium vero pessime quartux,
et *?pHmus, ct uttiintu Auleles. Strab. I. 17,
p. 1146.
> Justin. 1. -29, c. 1, § 5. < .(Egypt
patre ac matre interfyctis, occupaverat Pto-
lema?us, cni ex tacinoris crimine cognomen-
lum Philopatnri filit. 1
' Athenxus, I. 12, p. 549, edit. Causation.
1 Strabo, 1. 17, p. 1146.
* Clemens Alnxan. Strom. I. 1, p. 396.
Prideaux Connect, part 2, b. 8, anno SO
Herod. 8.
J Strabo, 1. 17, p. 1117 et 1175. Dion
Cass. 1. 51, c. 17.
4 See Usher, Prideaux, &c. under thai
year.
s Elmacini Hist. Saracen. 1. 1, p. 23, 24
Abul-Pliarajii Hist. Dyn. 9, p. 112. Vers.
Pocock. Ockley's Hist, of the Saracens
vol. 1, p. 344, &c
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BISHOP NEWTON
wars of the Romans, and parlly by the Saracens, and which nc
lover of learning can pass over without lamentation ; and that
is the de-lruetion of the library at Alexandria. This famous
library was founded by (lie first Ptolemies, and was so much en-
larged and improved by their successors, that it 6 amounted to
:!„'. number of seven hundred thousand volumes. It consisted 7
of two parts, one in that quarter of the city called Bruchion, con-
laining four hundred thousand volumes, and the other within
:he Sernpeum, containing three hundred thousand volumes. It
happened that while Julius Csesar was making war upon the
inhabitants of Alexandria, 8 the library in Bruchion, together
with other buildings, was burnt, and the 9 four hundred thousand
volumes which were kept therein were all consumed. But this
loss was in some measure repaired by the 1 Pergamean library,
consisting of two hundred thousand volumes, which Antony
presented to Cleopatra, and by the addition of other books after-
wards, so (hat 2 this latter library was reckoned as numerous
and as famous as the other ever was : and it came to the same
fatal end, this being also destroyed by fire. For 3 John the
Grammarian, a famous philosopher of Alexandria, being in
great favour with Amrou the Saracen general, asked of him the
royal library. Amrou replied, that it was not in his power to
give it him," without, leave first obtained from the emperor of the
faithful. Amrou therefore wrote to Omar, and acquainted him
with John's petition, to which the caliph returned this answer ;
that if what was contained in those hooks was agreeable to the
hook of God or the Koran, the Koran was sufficient without
them ; but if it. was repugnant to the Koran, it, was no ways
useful; and therefore he commanded them to be destroyed.
Amrou, in obedience to the caliph's commands, ordered them to
he distributed among the baths of the city, and to he burnt in
warming them, whereof there were no fewer at that time in
Alexandria than four thousand: and yet there passed six months
before the books were all consumed ; wliich sufficiently evinces
how great their number was, and what an inestimable loss not
only Egypt, but all the learned world hath sustained. Egypt
before this 4 was frequented by learned foreigners for the sake
of this library, and produced several learned natives ; but after
this it became more and more "a base kingdom," and sunk
into greater ignorance and superstition. Mohammedism was
* Ammiarius Marcellinus, I. 22, c. 16.
Ubi vide etiam qure Valesius adnotavit. A.
Gellius, I. 6, c. 17.
* Ep'.phanius de Mensuris et Ponderibus,
c. 11. Chrysostoru. vol. lj advers. Judoeos,
Orat. 1.
" Plutarch in Julio Cicsarc, § 49. Dion.
Cassius, 1. 42, c. 38.
9 Seneca de Tranquil!, animi. c. 9. Oro-
sii Hist. 1. 6, c. 15.
' Plutarch in Antonio, § 58.
2 Tertull. Apol. c. IS.
5 Abul-Pharajii Hist. Dyn. 9, p. 114.
VersioPocock. Ockley's Hist, of the Sara-
cens, vol. 1, p. 359, &c. Prideaux Connect,
part 2, b. 1, anno 284. Ptolemy Phila-
dulph. 1.
' Vide Amm. Marcellin. 1. 22, c. 16
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now established there instead of Christianity, and the govern-
ment of the caliphs and sultans continued till about the year of
Christ 1250.
About that time it was that the 5 Mamalucs usurped the royal
authority. The 6 word in general signifies a slave bought with
money, but is appropriated in particular to those Turkish and
Circassian slaves, whom the sultans of Egypt bought very young,
trained up in military exercises, and so made them their choicest
officers and soldiers, and by them controlled their subjects, and
subdued their enemies. These slaves perceiving how necessary
and useful they were, grew at length insolent and audacious,
slew their sovereigns, and usurped the government to themselves.
It is commonly said, that none but the sons of Christians were
taken into this order; and there are other popular mistakes
about them, which are current among European authors, and
which 7 Sir William Temple, among others, hath adopted and
expressed, as he doth every thing, in a lively and elegant man-
ner : ' The sons of the deceased sultans enjoyed the estates and
riches left by their fathers, but by the constitutions of the go-
vernment no son of a sultan was ever either to succeed, or even
to be elected sultan: So that in this, contrary to all others
ever known in the world, to be born of a prince was a certain
and unalterable exclusion from the kingdom ; and none was
ever to be chosen sultan, that had not actually been sold for
a slave, brought from Circassia, and trained up a private sol-
dier in the Mamaluc bands.' But 8 they who are better versed
in oriental authors, assure us that these are vulgar errors ; and
it appears from the 9 Arabian historians, that among the Mama-
lucs the son often succeeded the father in the kingdom. Their
government is thus characterized by an 1 Arabic author, quoted
by Dr. Pococke : ' If you consider the whole time that they pos-
sessed the kingdom, especially that which was nearer the end,
you will find it filled with wars, battles, injuries, and rapines.'
5 AM-Pbarajii Hist. Dyn. 9, p. 325, &e.
et Pocockii Supplementum, p. 8, &c.
fi Pocockii Supplem. p. 7. ' Mamlur. au-
tem (et cum de pluribus dicitur Mamalir,)
servum emptitium denotat, seu qui pr<;tio
numerate, in domini possessionem cedit.'
Herbelot. Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 545.
' Mamlouk. Ce mot dont le pluriel est
Memalik, signifie en Arabe un esclave en
general, mais en particulier, il a ete appli-
oue^a ces esclaves Turcs et Circassiens,
1 Sir William Temple's Works, vol. 1.
Miscellanea, part 2. Essay on Heroic Vir-
tue, § 5, p. 224.
8 Pocockii Supplem. p. 31. 'Ex his quae
dicta sunt facile patet, in errore esse eos
qui Mamlncos Christianorum tantummodo
filios ftiisse autumant ; nec non in aliis er-
rasse, qua; de successionis apud eos jure
eorumque disciplina tradunt.' Herbelot.
Bib. Orient, p. 545. ' II paroit par ce que
Ton vient de voir, qui les Mamelucs n'etoient
pas fits de Chretiens (si ce n'est peut Stre
quelqu'un d'entr'eux) comme plusieurs de
nos historiens font avance.'
a Pocockii Supplem. p. 8, 10, 11, 13, 18,
20,22,23,24,25.
1 A\. Jannabius in Pocockii Supplem.
p. 31. ( Si totum quo re^num occuparunt
tempus respicias, preesertim quod tint pro-
pius, reperies illud belli?, pugnis, injuriiu
et rapinis refertum.'
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BISHOP NEWTON
Their government 2 began with Sulian Ibeg, in the G4Sth year of
(ho Ileirira, mill (lie year of Christ 12.50; anil continued through
u 3 series of twenty-lour Circassian Mamalue sultans, 275 Ara-
bic, ami 2(17 Julian years,; and 4 ended with Tumanbai, in the
92.M year of the Hcgira, and the year of Christ 1517.
For at that, time, Selim 5 the ninth emperor of (lie Turks, con-
quered the Mamalucs, hanged their last Sultan Tuinanbai before
one, of the gates of Cairo, put an end to their government, caused
live hundred of the chiefest Egyptian families to be transported
to Constantinople, as likewise a great number of Mamalucs'
wives and children, besides the Sultan's treasure and other im-
mense riches; and annexed Egypt to the Othman empire,
whereof it hath continued a province from that day to this. It
is governed, as prince Cantemir informs us, by a Turkish Basha, 5
with twenty-four begs or princes under him, who are advanced
from servitude to the administration of public affairs ; a supersti-
tious notion possessing the Egyptians, that it is decreed by fate,
that captives shall reign, and the natives be subject to them.
But it cannot well be called a superstitious notion, being a no-
tion in all probability at first derived from some tradition of
these prophecies, that " Egypt should be a base kingdom," that
" there should be no more a prince of the land of Egypt," and
that Ham in his posterity " should be a servant of servants unto
his brethren."
By this deduction it appears, that the truth of Ezekiel's pre-
diction is fully attested by the whole series of the history of
Egypt from that time to the present. And who could pretend
to say, upon human conjecture, that so great a kingdom, so rich
and fertile a country, should ever afterwards become tributary
and subject to strangers'? It is now a great deal above two
thousand years since this prophecy was first delivered ; and
what likelihood or appearance was there that the Egyptians
should for so many ages bow under a foreign yoke, and never
in all that time be able to recover their liberties, and have a
prince of their own to reign over them 1 But as is the prophecy,
so i3 the event. For not long afterwards Egypt was conquered
by the Babylonians, and after the Babylonians 7 by the Persians ;
and after the Persians it became subject to the Macedonians, and
after the Macedonians to the Romans, and after the Romans to
the Saracens, and then to the Mamalucs ; and is now a province
of the Othman empire.
Thus we see how Nineveh, Babylon, Tyre, and Egypt, the
3 Pocock. p. 8. Herbolot. p. 479. and Rycaut's Turkish Hist. vol. i. p. 241.
* Pocock. p. 8 — 30. Herbelot. p. 545. 6 Prince Cantemir's Hist, of the Othman
4 Pocock. p. 30. Herbelot. p. 1031. Empire, part i. b. 3, p. 156, in the notes.
* Pocockii Supplcm. p. 30 et 49. ' See Prideaux Connect, part. 1, b. 1,
Herbelot. Bibli. Orient, p. 545 et 802, anno 589. Zedekiah 10.
»t 1031. Savage's Abridgment of Knolles
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great adversaria and oppressors of (ho Jews, liave been visited
))V divine vengeance for their enmity rind cruelty to the people
of (iod. Not (hat we must think God so pfirlial as to punish
these nations only for the sake of the .low* ; they were guilty
of oilier flagrant sins, for which t lie prophets denounced the
divine judgments upon them. Egypt, in particular was so se-
verely threatened by the prophet Ezekiel, (chap. xxix. xxx.
x.xxi. xxxii.) for her idolatry, her pride, and hi>r wickedness.
And I he Egyptians have generally been more wretched, as they
have, generally been more wicked than other nations. Ancient,
authors describe them every where as superstitious and luxu-
rious, as an 8 unwarlike and unserviceable people, as a 9 faithless
and fallacious nation, always meaning one thing and pretend-
ing another, as 1 lovers of wine and strong drink, as 2 cruel in
their anger, as 3 thieves and tolerating all kinds of theft, as
* patient of tortures, and though put to the rack, yet choosing
rather to die than to confess the truth. Modern authors paint
them still in blacker colours. The famous Thcveuot 5 is very
strong and severe : 'The people of Egypt (generally speaking)
are all swarthy, exceeding wicked, great rogues, cowardly, lazy,
hypocrites, buggerers, robbers, treacherous, so very greedy of
money, that they will kill a man for a maidin, or three half-
pence.' Bishop Pocoeke's s character of them is not much more
favourable, though not so harsh and opprobrious : ' The natives
of Egypt are now a slothful people, and delight in sitting still,
hearing tales, and indeed seem always to have been more fit for
the quiet life, than for any active scenes. — They are also mali-
cious and envious to a great degree, which keeps them from uni-
ting and setting up for themselves; and though they are very
ignorant, yet they have a natural cunning and artifice as well as
falsehood, and this makes them always suspicious of travellers—
The love of money is so rooted in them, that nothing is to be
done without bribery — They think the greatest villanies are ex-
piated, when once they wash their hands and feet. — Their wo»ds
pass for nothing, either in relations, promises, or professions of
" Sirabo. 1. 17, p. 1175. Juvenal. Sat. xv.
126, 1 imbelle et inutile villous.'
9 Luran. v. 68, ' non fidns aentis. 1 Hir-
tius tie Bell. Alexand. c. 16, 'fallacem gen-
tetn, somperque alia cogitantem, alia simu-
lamem.'
1 Athena-ns ex Dione, 1. i. p. 34, edit.
Casaubon. (ftiXofrovs Kat fi\oK6Tai. Vinosos
ac bihares.
2 Plllvb 1. 15, 5 33. At(vi) yao TIS J xaoA
rovi Sviiovt uififirqs ytyvtrat tuiv Kara riiv
Atyvirrov at 'lip jttuiv. Em enim hoc jjE°i/ptiis
hominihut inntiium, utdum fervent ira mirum
in modum tint crudelcs.
" A. Gellius. 1. 11, c. 18. Ei Aristone.
16
*fnrta omnia fuisse licita et impunita.*
Diod. Sic. 1. i. c. 80.
4 jElian. Var. Hist. 1. 7. c. 18. klyvir*
r/ot'f qWi 6etv&s tyKapTcpt'iv rut; ftacdiois t
Kat ort $&ttov TtOrfi^zrai avtio Alyvvrios ffrpc-
SXoVftcvo; tj T'a\>)&e<; bpoXoyricti. ^Egyptian
aiunt pfUicrttisstme ferre tormcnta / et rf-
ft'ii* mori hominrm JEzyvtium in rjuasli-
onibus, tortum cxaminatumtjue, quam reri-
taiem prodere. Ammianus jMarcell. 1. 22.
c. 16.
> Thevenot in Harris's Collection, vol. 2.
c. 8, p. 429.
6 Pococke's Description of the East, vol
i. b. 4, c. 4, p. 177, &c.
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BISHOP NEWTON
friendship, &c.' Such men are evidently born not to command,
but (o serve and obey. They are altogether unworthy of liberty
Slavery is the fittest for them, as they are fittest for slavery. It
is an excellent political aphorism of the wisest and best of kings,
and nil history will bear witness to the truth of it, that, (Prov.
xiv. 3-1,) "righteousness exultelh a nation, but sin is a reproach
and ruin to any people."
XIII. — Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the
GREAT EMPIRES
WE have seen how it pleased God to reveal unto the pro-
phets the future condition of several of the neighbour-
ing countries ; but there are other prophecies which extend to
more remote nations, those nations especially and their transac-
tions, wherein the church of God was particularly interested and
concerned. It pleased God too to make these revelations, at a
time when his people seemed in other respects abandoned and
forsaken, and did not so much deserve, as stand in need of light
and comfort. Isaiah and Jeremiah prophesied in the declension
of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Ezekiel and Daniel pro-
phesied during the time of the Babylonish captivity. And the
prophecies of Daniel are so clear and exact, that in former as
well as in latter times it hath confidently been asserted, that they
must have been written after the events, which they are preten-
ded to foretell.
The famous Porphyry, (who flourished at the latter end of the
third century after Christ,) was I think the first who denied their
genuineness and authority. He wrote 1 fifteen books against
the Christian religion, the twelfth of which was designed to de-
preciate the prophecies of Daniel ; and therein he affirmed, that
the} 7 were not composed by Daniel whose name they bore, but
by somebody who lived in Judea about the time of Antiochus
Epiphanes; because all to that time contained true history, buL
all beyond that were manifestly false. This work of Porphyry,
together with the answers of Eusebius, Apollinarius, and Me-
thodius, is wholly lost, excepting a few f.agments and quota-
tions, which are preserved in Jerome and others of the fathers.
But as 3 Jerome rightly observes, this method of opposing the
prophecies is the strongest testimony of their truth. For they
were fulfilled with such exactness, that to infidels the prophet
seemed not to have foretold things future, but to have related
things past.
1 Cave Hist. Lit. vol. 1, p. 156. Hieron. ut propheta incredulis hominibus non vi-
Prsuf. in Danielem. deatur futura dixisse, sed narrasse pra>
3 ' Cujus impugnatio testimonium veri- terita.' Hieron. ibid,
tatis est. Tama enim dictorum fides fuit,
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
The, celebrated author (if lite. Srhnnr of IJleral Prophecy consi-
dered hath followed I he slops of Porphvrv. He hath collected
every lliinii', that in ihe course of his reading lie ihouglil could
he turned to ihe disparagement of the hook ol Daniel. He, hath
(Veined nil thai he had rolled cd into eleven objections against
it.; ;in I upon the whole concludes with niin h posit iveness and
assurance, thai, it must, he written in (lie days of I he Maccabees.
]?ut his-' two learned opponents, both of Ihe same name, have
solidly and clearly refuted his eleven ohjeetions, and shown
them all to he mere cavils or direct falsities, groundless assertions,
wrong quotations, or plain contradictions.
And indeed it may be proved, it hath been proved to a de-
monstration, as much as any thing of (his nature can he proved
to a demonstration, by all the characters and testimonies both
internal and external, that the prophecies of Daniel were written
at the lime the Scripture says they were written, and be pros-
pered on account of these prophecies, (Dan. vi. 28,) "in the reign
of Darius the Mede, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian:"
that is, between five and six hundred years before Christ. It
is very capricious and unreasonable in unbelievers lo object, as
Collins doth, lo the prophecies of Daniel, sometimes that they
are too plain, and sometimes that they arc too obscure. But
it will entirely overthrow the notion of their being written in
the days of A nl melius Epiphanes or of the Maccabees, and will
establish the credit of Daniel as a prophet beyond all contra-
diction, if it can be proved that there are several prophecies of
bis which have been fulfilled since the days of Antiochus
Epiphanes and the Maccabees as well as before, nay that
there are prophecies of his which are fulfilling in the world
at this very lime.
Daniel's first prophecj r , and the groundwork as I may say of
all the rest, was his interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream.
This monarch, "in the second year of his reign," (Dan. ii. 1,)
according to the Babylonian account, o-- the fourth according
to the Jewish, that is in the second year of his reigning alone,
or the fourth from his first reigning jointly with his lather, hav-
ing subdued all his enemies and firmly established his throne,
was thinking upon his bed, (ver. 29,) iohat should come to pass
hereafter, what should be the future success of his family and
kingdom, and whether any or what families and kingdoms might
arise after his own: and as our waking thoughts usually give
some tincture to our dreams, he dreamed of something to the
same purpose, which astonished him, but which he could not
rightly understand. The dream affected him strongly at the
3 See I!|i. Chamllor's Vindication of his
Defence ul' Chnsnauitv, and Mr. Sam.
Chandler's Vindication of the Antiquily and
Authority of Daniel's Prophecies, in answer
to ttie Scheme uf Literal Prophecy t nH
dered.
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BISHOP NEWTON
lime, but awaking in confusion, lie had but an imperfect re-
membrance of it, be could not recollect all the particulars. He
called, dim* fore, (ver. 2,) for "(lie magicians and astrologers;"
and as absurdly as imperiously demanded of (hem, (ver. 5,) upon
pain of death and destruction, "to make known unto him both
the dream and the interpretation thereof." They answered very
reasonably, that no king bad ever required such a tiling, that it
transcended all (be powers and faculties of man, God alone or
only beings like God could disclose it, (ver. 10, 11 :) "There is
not a man upon earth that can show (be king's matter ; therefore
there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any
magician, astrologer, or Chahkean : and it. is a rare thing that
the king requireih, and there is none other that, can show it be-
fore the king, except the God, whose dwelling is not with flesh."
But the pride of absolute power cannot hear any reason, or bear
any control; and the king greatly incensed presently ordered
all the magicians and wise men of Babylon to be destroyed,
(ver. 12 :) "For this cause the king was angry and very furious,
and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon."
Daniel and his fellows would have been involved in the same
fate as the rest ; but by their joint and earnest prayers to the
God of heaven, "the secret was revealed unto Daniel in a night
vision, (ver. 19,) and Daniel blessed the God of heaven." Da-
niel thus instructed, was desirous to save the lives of the wise
men of Babylon, who were unjustly condemned, as well as his
own : and be " went unto Aricch, the captain of the king's guard,
whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Baby-
lon : he went, (ver. 24,) and said thus unto him, Destroy not the
wise men of Babylon ; bring me in before the king, and I will
show unto the king the interpretation." The captain of the guard
immediately introduced him to the king, and said, (ver. 25,) " I,
have found a man of the captives of Judab, that will make known
unto the king the interpretation." "I have found a man,"
said he, though Daniel had voluntarily offered himself; where
Jerome remarks the manner of courtiers, 'quiquum bona nun-
ciant, sua videri volunt,' who when they relate good things, are
willing to have them thought their own, and to have the merit
ascribed to themselves. But Daniel was far from assuming any
merit to himself, and said very modestly, that "this secret, (ver.
27,) which the wise men, astrologers, magicians, and soothsayers
could not show unto the king, was not revealed to him, (ver. 30,)
for any wisdom that he had more than others : but there is a God
in heaven, (ver. 28,) that revealeth secrets and maketh known
to the king Nebuchadnezzar, what shall be in the latter days,"
or what shall come to pass hereafter, as it is expressed (ver. 29,
45) twice afterwaids. The impious king, as Jerome justly
observes, had a prophetic dream, that the saint interpreting it,
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
185
God might, lie glorified, and (lie captives and those who served
God in captivity might receive great, consolation. 4 We read the
same tiling of Pharaoh, not, that. Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar
deserved to see such tilings, hut, dial, Joseph and Daniel by in-
terpreting them might he preferred to all others. And as St.
Jerome farther observes, that, Nebuchadnezzar might admire the
grace of Divine, inspiration, Daniel not. only told him w hat he saw
in his dream, hut also what he thought within himself before his
dream, (ver. 29 :) "As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into
thy mind, upon thy bed, what should conic to pass hereafter :
and he, that revealeth secrets, maketh known unto thee what
shall come, to pass."
Nebuchadnezzar's dream was of a grcal hna^e. " This great
image, (ver. 31,) whose brightness was excellent, stood before
him, and the form thereof was terrible." It appears from ancient
coins and medals, that cities and people were often represented
by figures of men and women. A great terrible human figure was
therefore not. an improper emblem of human power and domi-
nion; and the various medals of which it was composed, not
unfitly typify the various kingdoms which should arise. It con-
sisted of Jour different metals, gold and silver and brass and
iron mixed with clay; and these four metals, according to Da-
niel's own interpretation, mean so many kingdoms: and the
order of their succession is clearly denoted by the order of the
parts, the 5 head and higher parts signifying the earlier times,
and the lower the parts, the later the times. From hence, 6 as
Calvin conceives, the poets drew their fables of the four ages
of the world, the golden, the silver, the brazen and the iron
age ; by which declension in this place it is signified, that the
world always degenerates, and manners grow worse and worse.
But Ilesiod, who lived about 200 years before Daniel, men-
tioned the four ages of the world ; so that this vision was formed
agreeably to the common received notion, and the common re-
ceived notion was not first propagated from hence. Whether
this notion of the world's degenerating and growing worse and
worse be true or not, these different kingdoms will naturally
constitute the different heads of our discourse. And we shall
4 Hieron. Comment, m ver. I. 'Vidit
rex impius somnium fulurorum, ut inter-
pretante Sancto quod viderat, Deus gtori-
ficaretur ; et captivorum Deoque in cap-
tivitate sorvientium sit grande solatium.
Hoc idem in Pharasne legimus, non quod
Ptiarao et Nabuchodonosor videre meru-
erint; sed quod Joseph et Daniel digni
exstiterint, qui interpretatione eorum om-
nibus prt'tWrenrur.' Et postea in ver. 29. —
'Et ut Nahuchodonosor divinre inspirationis
tniretur gratiam, non solum quid in somnio
16*
viderit, scd ante somnium quid tacitus co^i-
tarit exponit.'
& 'Pars statute quo superior, eo priora,
quo inferior, eo sehora tempera signifieat.
Grot, in loc.
6 'Ex hoc Daniel is loco hanserunt poe-
tae fabulas suas do quatuor sa^mlis, aureo,
argenteo, ameo, ferreo ; qua declinations h.
1. significatur niundum semper decMore, ot
mores prolabi in dolerius. Calvin, apud
Poli Synops.
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1S6
BISHOP NEWTON
follow flic best commentators from Joseplius down to Sir Isaac
Newton, bill we shall regard no commentator so much as the
tnuh of history, the evidence of reason, and the analogy of
Scripture.
I.' "This image's head was of fine gold," (ver. 32,) which Da-
niel interprets, (ver. 38,) "Thou art this head of gold," thou,
and tliy family, and thy representatives. The Babylonian there-
fore was the first of these kingdoms ; and it was filly represented
by "the head of fine gold," on account of its great riches; and
Babylon for the same reason was called by Isaiah, (xiv. 4,) " the
golden city." The Assyrian is usually said to be the first of the
four great empires ; and the name may be allowed to pass, if it
be not taken too strictly. For the Assyrian empire properly so
called was dissolved before tills time ; the Babylonian was erected
in its stead ; but the Babylonians are sometimes called Assy-
rians in the best classic authors, Herodotus, Xenophon, Sl.ru.bo,
and others, as well as in the Heiy Scriptures. Daniel addresseth
Nebuchadnezzar, as if he was a very powerful king, and his
empire very large and extensive, (ver. 37,) "Thou, 0 king, art
a king of kings." He perhaps might think, like some of his
predecessors, that his conquests were owing to his own fortitude
and prudence, (Is. x. 13,) "By the strength of my hand I have
done it, and by my wisdom, for I am prudent ; and I have re-
moved the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures,
and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man." But
the prophet assures him that his success must be primarily impu-
ted to the God of heaven, (ver. 37, 38,) " For the God of heaven
hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory :
And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field,
and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and
hath made thee ruler over them all."
All the ancient eastern histories almost are lost : but there
are some fragments even of heathen historians yet preserved,
which speak of this mighty conqueror and his extended empire.
Berosus in Joseplius ' saith, that he held in subjection Egypt,
Syria, Phoenicia, Arabia, and by his exploits surpassed all the
Chaldaeans and Babylonians who reigned before him. Jose-
plius 8 subjoins, that in the archives of the Phoenicians there are
Tou, SwplVf, '1>oiv[Ktis t 'Apafitaij Trthras Si
Birco/juAA'J/iEvoi' mis Trort'lciTi roii; ;rp$ aiirou
X'( AOutiov K'tt B.(/?uAijur<'wi» ftlGacihiVkoras.
Dirit mniptr ffiind Bahyl'miiis lenuerU
jQEgyptHm, Sijrium, Phienic.iam, Arahtrun ;
quod<jue privrcs Chatft 'rp.orum, et Baht/hnic—
Turn re^cs universos re'ms a se princlare, /rts-
tis mjiernrit. Apuii. Joseph. Contra Apion
1.1, \ 19.
to?? trft B^powoiJ Xcyo/i/i'oiy hvaytypavrox^
jrep? tovt&v Ed(?t)Au)v/u>v /WiAfw?, on ttal t^V
"Zvpiav Kai rf)v tboiviKtjv airaaav £K£tVo$ kcltp
uTpiipaTo. Hcpl ruurwv yuxiv cvptyuvet ko)
fyiXdcrTpaTos iv ra?f icTOflfaif, — Kat Mtya-
r3e'vr/s iv tji TtrdpTi} twv 'JvtWwi', <V 5? a~o-
<f>alvtlV TTCipaTdt TQV TpOSI^pf I'QJ' fSuClXia TtOV
B'ifivXwvtwV) 'Hpa/cXfouj avopda Kat pey&ei
•np't^ciov diEvrjvoxivat. KaTuarpi^'auBai yap
avrbv 0»?cr? Kat Aifivrjs Tt)V ttoAX;)v kui 'I^pi'av.
— In archivis Phmnicum scripta rfperiunlur
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
187
wn.ten tilings consonant to those which are said hy Berosus
concerning this king- of 1 ho Rahvlonians, that lie subdued Syria
and all I'larnicia : Willi these likewise agrees I'hilostrulns in his
history, and Mriraslhcnes in the fourth hook of his Indian history,
throughout which he attempts to show, that the foi (.'mentioned
king of the Uahylonians exceeded Hercules in fortitude and
greatness of exploits; for he affirms that he subdued I Ik; great-
est part, of Libya and Spain. Strabo likewise from the same
Megast hones s asserts, that this king among (he Chalda aiis was
more celebrated than Hercules, and that he proceeded as far as
to the pillars of Hercules, and led his army out of Spain into
Thrace and Pontus. But his empire, though of great, extent, was
yet of no long duration ; for it ended in his grandson Belshnjj-
zar, 1 not seventy years after the delivery of this prophecy, nor
above twenty-three years after the death of Nebuchadnezzar;
which maybe the reason of Daniel's speaking of him as the
only king: "thou art this head of gold," and "after thee shall
arise, &c." the rest being to be considered as nothing; nor do
we read of any tiring good or great that was performed by
them.
II. "His breast and his arms of silver," (ver. 33,) which Da-
niel interprets, (ver. 39,) "And after thee shall arise another
kingdom inferior to thee." It is very well known, that the king-
dom which arose after the Babylonians, was the JNledo-Persian.
The two hands and the shoulders, saith 2 Josephus, signify that
the empire of the Babylonians should be dissolved by two kings.
The two kings were the kings of the Medes and Persians, whose
powers were united under Cyrus, ivho was son of one of the
kings and son-in-law of the other, and who besieged and took
Babylon, put an end to that empire, and on its ruins erected (he
Medo-Persian, or the Persian as it is more usually called, the
Persians having soon gained the ascendancy over the Medes.
This empire is said to be inferior as being less than the forme]*,
* minus te, 5 as the Vulgar Latin translates if, because neither Cy-
rus nor any of his successors ever carried their arms into Africa
or Spain so far as Nebuchadnezzar is reported to have done; 01
rather inferior as being worse than the former, ' detenus te,' as
fWflj cum lis conveniunt a fierosa narratis de
rege Bnhyhnioram^ Syriam scilicet et uni-
versam Phisniciam^ ilium suhegisse. His sane
atkttpulatur Philostratus in historiis. — Et
Mcgasthenes in quarto volumine rcrum Indi-
carum^ uhi osterulere contendit pr&dictum
Sahyloniorum regem etfortitudine Herctdem
et mag'i it inline pr&stitisse, dicit enim eum
hihum bonani partem et Iberiam subjugasse,
Joseph, ibid. § 20.
9 JXavoKo^poaapoi' Af rov irapa 'Xa\$a(ots cv-
\uiv iXduai, — ■ Kid tK r;js 'lfi/jp/ns eh T'ivQptf
kijv Kai rbv Xlivrov Ayayttv rnv arpaTtdv. •
Navocodrosorum autcm qu imagisa Chaltlm*
probatur quarn Hercules, usque ad Columnar
pervenisse — etexercitum ex Hixpania in Thro*
ciam Pontumqucduxisse. Strab. 1. 15. p. 1007.
1 See Usher's Annals, A. M. 3466, p.
100. Prideanx Connect, part I, b.2, anno
539. Bekhauar 17.
2 AJ &} Svo ^Eipej Kat ol wuot aifuatvovetv
virb 6vo Kara\v$i'/(T£<J$ai 6aai\imv ri)v fjycfto*
vtav bfiGiv. Ducc i rro maims et humeri indicant
impcrium vestru/n a duobus regibus erersun%
iri, Joseph. Aniiq. 1. 10, c. 10, § 4.
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188
BISHOP NEWTON
Castalio translates it, for 3 Dr. Prideaux asserts, and I believe he
may assert very truly, that, the kings of Persia were ' the worst
race of men that ever governed an emy>ire.' This empire, from
its first establishment by Cyrus to the death of the last king Da-
rius Codomanmis lasted not much above 200 years. Thus far
nil critics and commentators are agreed, that the two first king-
doms represented in Nebuchadnezzar's dream were the Baby-
lonian and the Persian. As to the rest there hath been some
controversy, but with little reason or foundation for it, only that
some persons are troubled with the spirit of contradiction, and
will dispute about the plainest points.
III. "His belly and his thighs of brass," (ver. 32,) which Da-
niel interprets, (ver. 39,) "And another third kingdom of brass
which shall bear rule over all the earth." It is universally known,
that Alexander the Great subverted the Persian empire. The
kingdom therefore which succeeded to the Persian, was the Ma-
cedonian ; and this kingdom was fitly represented by brass ; for
the Greeks were famous for their brazen armour, their usual epi-
thet being x^x 1 ™" '^x al0 ' t > brazen-coated Greeks. Daniel's
interpretation in 4 Josephus is, that, another coming from the west,
completely armed in brass, shall destroy the empire of the Medes
and Persians. This third kingdom is also said to "bear rule over
all the earth" by a figure usual in almost, all authors. Alexan-
der himself commanded, 5 that he should be called the king of
all the world; not that he, really conquered, or near conquered the
whole world, but he had considerable dominions in Europe, Asia,
and Africa, that is in all the three parts of the world then known ;
and 6 Diodorus Siculus and other historians give an account of
ambassadors coming from almost all the world to congratulate
him upon his success, or to submit to his empire : and then es-
pecially, as 'Arrian remarks, did Alexander himself appear to
himself and to those about him to be master both of all the earth
and sea.
That this third kingdom therefore was the Macedonian,
every one allows, and must allow : but then it is controverted,
whether this kingdom ended in the person of Alexander, or
was continued in his successors. St. Jerome 8 saith expressly,
* Prideaux Connect, part I, b. 2, anno
559. Nerijrlissar 1.
4 Thv of tKtivwv lTtp6$ ris azb ovaewe
KaSaipfjGti \n\<bv IjpQuvuevos. Illorum au-
fem imprrvtm alius quid-ran ah ocnidente
venieruf destruet^ arre totus obductus. Joseph.
Antiq. 1. 10, c. 10, § 4.
* 'Accepto deinde imperio, regam se ler.
arum omnium nr. mundi appellari jussit.'
Jstin. 1. 12, c. 16, § 9.
Kara c7 tqvtqv rbv ^p<5j'or, it; andoijs
<r%ehbv rfjs otnovuforis rjicov irp/ff/ta?, K. r. X.
Quo tempore cunrtisfere orbis lerrarum par-
tialis legati ad Alexandrum venerunt, tyc.
Diod. Sic. I. 1 /. c. 113.
7 Kal rrfrc paXtnTa ahr6v T£ (rW *A^f-
l;av?>pov Kat roif aptfi' avrbv tfravtivat yrjs Tt
avtxvris teal 5a\da<j7]S Kijpiov. Ac turn primura
Alt.xaudrum sibi ipsi et qui rum CO erallt
universal lerrai ac maris ciominum visum
esse. Arrian. de Exped. Alex. 1. 7, c. 15.
* " l Et regnum terliura aliud aeneum,
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ON THE PROPHECIES. 189
ilial. the third kingdom signifies Alexander, and llio kingdom
of tin- Macedonians, and of the siicci-sshi-s of Alexander,
Whir 1 1 is righlly named brazen, saith he : ','uv among nil me!;, Is
brass is more vocal, and (inkles louder, and iis sound is dif-
fused far and wide, that, it port c.-uilcil not only the fame and
power of the. kingdom, but, also the eloquence of the Greek
language. Another commcnlator observes," that this kingdom
is compared to the belly, to denote the drunkenness of Alex-
ander, and the profuse luxury of his successors, especially of
the Ptolemies. It was a strange wild conceit in Groiius and
others, lo think that the kingdom of Alexander and of his suc-
cessors made two different kingdoms. Grot ins was indeed a
very great man, and for the most part a very able ami useful
commentator : but the greatest and ablest men have (heir
weaknesses, and none hath betrayed more weakness, or com-
mitted more errors in chronology and history than he hath
done, in explaining the prophecies. His notions here are as
mean and contracted, as they are generous and enlarged in oilier
instances.
The Selcucidre who reigned in Syria, and the Lagidre who
reigned in Egypt, might be designed particularly by the two
thighs of brass. Of all Alexander's successors they might be
pointed out alone, because they alone had much connexion
with the Jewish church and nation. But their kingdom was
no more a different kingdom from that of Alexander, than the
parts differ from the whole. It was the same government still
continued. They who governed were still Macedonians. The
metal was the same, and the nation was the same : nor is
the same nation ever represented by different metals, but
the different metals always signify different nations. All
ancient authors too speak of the kingdom of Alexander and
of his successors as one and the same kingdom. The thing
is implied in the very name by which they are usually called,
the successors of Alexander. Alexander being dead, 1 saith
Josephus, the empire was divided among his successors; he
doth not say that so many new empires were erected. After
the death of Alexander, saith Justin, 2 the kingdoms of the
quod imperabit universe terra." Alexan- 1 TrXrenimjvros IV A}.c$dvlf,ov t % apx?l
drum signilicat, et regnum Macedonum sue- tit rovs iiaUx.ovs iptpiaSii. Alejandro
cessorumque Alexandri. Quod recte sne- autem vita defuncto, imperium inter suc-
um dicitur : Inter omnia enim metalla ses cessores divisum est. Joseph. Antiq. I. 11,
vocalius est, et tinnit clarius, et sonitus c. 8, § 7.
ejus long lateque diffunditur, ut non solum 3 ' Post mortem Alexandri magni, dum
famam ot potentiam regni, sed et eloquen- inter successores ejus orienlis regna di-
tiam Graci sermonis ostenderet.' Hieron. viderentur, &e.' Justin. 1. 41, c. 4, § 1.
m l° c - Speaking of the Partliians : ' Postremo
* ' Cnnfertur hoe ventri, ad notandum Macedonibus triumphato oriente servie-
Alexandri crapulam, et successorum ejus runt' c. 1, § 5. ' Hi postea diductis Ma-
pracipue Ptolemreorum effusam luxuriam.' cedonibus in bellum civile,' &c. c. 4, § 2.
Tirinus apud Poli Synops.
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190
manor kkwton
oast, wore divided among his successors: mid he still deno-
minate* thru) Macedonians, and their empire the Macedonian;
and reckons Alexander I he. same (o ihe Macedonians, as Cyrus
wa> to the Persians, and Romulus to the Romans. Giotius
him rh' 1 acknowledge!]), that, even now the Hebrews rail
those kingdoms hy one name, the kingdom of the Grecians,
Tiiere is one insuperable objection against (he kingdoms of
the Lagida: and of the. ^eleucida-, being a dilii-rent kingdom
from that, of Alexander, because if they are not considered as
p:<rts of Alexander's dominion, they cannot, Ik; counted as one
kingdom, they constitute properly two separate and distinct
kingdoms.
IV. "His legs of iron, his feet part of iron, and part of clay,'
(ver. 33,) which is thus interpreted by Daniel, (ver. 40— '13 :)
"And the fourth kingdom shall he. strong as iron; forasmuch
as iron breakefh in pieces, and subdue! h all things ; and as iron
that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. And
whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potter's clay,
and part of iron ; the kingdom shall lie divided, but there shall
he in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest
the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were
part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly
strong and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed
with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of
men ; but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is
not mixed with clay." Here are farther proofs that the king-
doms of the Scleucidoe and of the Lagidaj cannot possibly be
the fourth kingdom, because the marks and characters here
given of the fourth kingdom by no means agree with either of
those kingdoms. This fourth kingdom is described as stronger
than the preceding. As iron breaketh and bruiseth all other
metals, so this breaketh and subdueth all the former kingdoms:
but the kingdoms of the Lagidse and of the Seleucidas were so
far from being stronger, that they were much weaker, and less
than any of the former kingdoms. This kingdom too is repre-
sented as divided into ten toes: but when or where were the
kingdoms of the Lagkkc and of the Seleucidae divided into so
many parts? Besides, the metal here is different, and conse-
quently the nation should be different, from the preceding. The
four different metals must signify four different nations : and
as the gold signified the Bahylonians, and the silver the Per-
sians, and the brass the Macedonians ; so the iron cannot sig-
Administratio gentis po r -t aVfi'ciionem J\Ta~
csdonici imperii sub realms full.' c. 2, § 1.
'Sic Arsaces, qufinsito siinnl cnrislituloimo
resno, non minus ni''itior.'ilulis Purlins,
aurim Persia Cyrus, ]\lw< •dtirnhus Alixmuhr.
Jinmanin Romulus, matura senectute rlece-
dit.' c. 5, § 5.
3 'Eliam nunc IlebrErji isla imperia lino
nomine appellant rcgnum Gracorum.'
tlrot. in Dan, vii. 7.
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191
nify the Macedonians again, hut. must, necessarily denote some,
other nation : and we will venture to sny that, there is not a na-
tion upon earth, to which this description is applicable, but the
Romans.
The Romans succeeded next to the Macedonians, and there-
fore in course were next to be mentioned. The Roman em-
pire was stronger and larger than any of the preceding'. The
Romans brake in pieces, and subdued all (lie former kingdoms.
As Joseplms said, that the two arms of silver denoted tli" kings
of the Medcs and Persians; so we might say in like manner,
that, the two legs of iron signified the two Roman consuls. " The
iron was mixed with miry clay," and the Romans were defiled
with a mixture of barbarous nations. The Roman empire was
at length divided into ten lesser kingdoms, answering to the ten
toes of the image, as we shall see hereafter. These kingdoms
retained much of the old Roman strength, and manifested it
upon several occasions, so that " the kingdom was partly strong
and partly broken." They " mingled themselves with (he seed
of men ;" they made marriages and alliances one with another,
;is they continue to do at this day : but no hearty union ensued ;
reasons of slate are stronger than the ties of blood, and interest
generally avails more than affinity. Some expound it of the
secular and ecclesiastical powers, sometimes agreeing, sometimes
clashing and interfering with each other, to the weakening of
both, and endangering their breaking to pieces. Or if by
" the seed of men" w T e are to understand the same as by " the
daughters of men," (Gen. vi. 2,) those of a false and different
religion, it may allude to the intermarriages, which several of
the European nations, and particularly the French, Spanish,
and Portuguese, have made with the Indians, Africans, and
Americans. Thus some of the ten kingdoms who call them-
selves sons of God and (lie only sons of God by adoption, have
mixed with " the seed of men," with strangers to him ; and yet
no solid union ensues. Which observation was suggested to
me by an unknown correspondent, Mr. Hercules Younge, an
ingenious clergyman of Carrick in Ireland. The Roman empire
therefore is represented in a double state, first with the strength
of iron, conquering all before it, " his legs of iron ;" and then
weakened and divided by the mixture of barbarous nations,
" his feet part of iron, and part of clay." It subdued Syria,
and made the kingdom of the Seleucidce a Roman province
in the year 65 before Christ ; 1 it subdued Egypt, and made
the kingdom of the Lagidse a Roman province in the year
30 before Christ : and in the fourth century after Christ, it be-
gan to be torn in pieces by the incursions of the barbarous
nations.
* See Usher Prideaux, and other chronologers.
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BISHOP NEWTON
Si. .JVr tine lived to see the incursion.-; of (ho barbarous na-
dons: an-l his s comment is, that '(In; fourth kingdom, which
plainly helotrrs in the Unmans, is the iron that brcakcl.li and
siiho;i;i!i .ill tliiiiL's; hnl his feel, and tors are part, of iron, and
pari of c!:iv, which is most, manifestly proved at this lime: for
as in tli' 1 bcginniiij; nothing was stronger and harder than the
Roman empire, so in the end of things nothing in weaker; since
I nili in civil wars, and against, divers nations, wc want, the as-
sistance of oilier barbarous nations.' He liat.li given the same
interpretation in other parts of his works ; and it. sccmcth that
he had been blamed for it, as a. reflection upon the government ;
and I be it fore, lie maketh this apology for himself. 'If,' 6 smith
he, ' in explaining the statue and. the difference of 1 1 its feet, and
toes, I have interpreted the iron and clay of the Roman king-
dom, which the Scripture foretells should first, be strong, and
then weak, let, them not impute it to me, but to the prophet:
for we must not so flatter princes, as to neglect the verily of the
Holv Scriptures, nor is a general disputation an injury to a single
person.'
All ancient, writers, both Jewish and Christian, agree with
Jerome in explaining the fourth kingdom to be the Roman.
Porphyry, who was a heathen, and an enemy to Christ, was the
lirst who broached the other opinion ; which, though it hath been
maintained since by some of the moderns, is yet not only desti-
tute of the authority, but is even contrary to the authority of
both Scripture and history. It is a just observation of Mr.
Mede, 7 who was as able and consummate a judge as any in these
matters : ' The Roman empire to be the fourth kingdom of Da-
niel, was believed lyy the Church of Israel both before and in our
Saviour's time ; received by the disciples of the apostles, and
the whole Christian church for the first 300 years, without any
known contradiction. And I confess, having so good ground in
Scripture, it is with me " tantum non articulus fidei," little less
than an article of faith.'
V. Besides this image, Nebuchadnezzar saw, (ver. 34, 35,)
"till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the
image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them
6 ' Regnum autem quartum, quod perspi-
cue pertinet ad Romanes, fcrrum est quod
comininuit et domat omnia : sed pedes ejus
et digiti ex parte ferrci, et ex parte sunt
fictilcs, (plod hoc tempore manifeslissime
comprobatur. Sicut enim in principio nihil
Romano imperio fortius et durius fuit ; ita
in fine rerum nihil imbecillius : quando et in
bellis civihbus, et adversum diversas natio-
nes, aliarum gentium barbararum indigemus
auxilio.' Hieron. in loc.
' ' Quod si in expositione statute pedumi
que ejus, et digitorutn discrepantia, ferrum et
testam super Romano regno interpretatus
sum, quod primum forte, dein imhecillum
seriptura portendit, non mihi imputent, sed
propheta?. Neque enim sic adulandum est
principalis, ut sanctarum scripturarum Ve-
ritas negligatur, necgeneralis disputatio uni«
us persona? injuria est.' Prasf. in Isaite,
c. xxxvi.
* Mede's Works, b. 4, epist. 6, p. 736.
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OX THE PRf )PITECIES.
fo piece.-! : llieu was tlie iron, I lie clav, Hie bras?, the silver, nnn
the gold broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff
of llic summer threshing-floors, ami ih", wind carried Iheiii
away, that no place was found lor them; an, I the stone that
Hiuoie ihe image became a great mountain, and filled ihn whole
earth;" which is thus interpreted and explained by Daniel,
(ver. il, -13:) "And in the days of these kings shall tiie Cod of
heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never he destroyed ; and
the kingdom shall not he left to other people, hut it shall break
in pieces, and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand
for ever: for as much as thou sawest. that, the stone was cut out
of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the
iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold." Thev who
maintain that the fourth kingdom was the kingdoms of the Pc-
Icucidaj and of the Lagid-e, do, many of them, maintain like-
wise that this fifth kingdom was the Roman. But how can
these characters agree with the Roman empire] How was the
Roman empire, "cut out of the mountain without, hand ," or
formed without human force and human policy? How was the
Roman empire of God's erection more than any of the former
kingdoms'! How can the Roman empire which is left to other
people, he said "not to be left toother people," and how can that
which is broken hi pieces, be said to " stand for ever V
This description can with propriety only be understood, as
the ancients understood it, of the kingdom of Christ. "And
in the days of these kings," that is, in the days of some of them.
As "in the days when the judges ruled," (Ruth i. 1,) signifies
in the clay when some of the judges ruled; so "in the days of
diese kings," signifies in the days of some of these kingdoms :' and
it must be during the days of the last of them, .because they
are reckoned four in succession, and consequently this must
be the fifth kingdom. Accordingly Ihe kingdom of Christ was
set up during the days of the last of these kingdoms, that is the
Romans. The stone was totally a different thing from the image,
and the kingdom of Christ is totally different 0 from the king-
doms of this world. "The stone was cut out of the mountain
without hands," as our heavenly body is said (2 Cor. v. 1) to
;je " a building of God, a house not made with hands ;" that is
spiritual, as the phrase is used in other places; (Mark, xiv. 58,
compared with John ii. 21 ; see also Coloss. ii. 11.) This the
fathers 8 generally apply to Christ himself, who was miracu-
lously born of a virgin without the concurrence of a man : but
it should rather be understood of the kingdom of Christ, which
,vas formed out of the Roman empire, not by number of hands,
or strength of armies, but without human means, and the virtue
• Justin Martyr, cum Tryphone, Dial. p. 301, edit. Thirlb. Irenaji. 1. 3, advers. Ha>
leses, c. 2S. Hieron. Comment, in loc.
17 Z
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BISHOP NEWTON
of second causes. This kingdom was, " set up by ihe God of
heaven ; and from hence the phrase of the kingdom of heaven
(Miii,' tc signify liie kingdom of the Messiah ; and so it wag
um\1 and understood by the Jews, and so it is applied by our
;ir in I lie New Testament. Other kingdoms were raised
F-y liiMiKtU ambition and worldly power : but this was the work
no; of man, but of God ; this was truly, as it is called, the hng-
i' of heaven, and (John xviii. 30) "a kingdom not of this
world ;" its laws, its powers, were all divine. The kingdom was
•■ never to be destroyed," as the Babylonian, the Persian, and
l Ik? Macedonian empires have been, and in great measure also
tiie Roman. This kingdom was to "break in pieces and con-
sume all the kingdom-," to spread and enlarge itself, so that it
should comprehend within itself all the former kingdoms. This
kingdom was to "till the whole earth," to become universal, and
to " stand for ever."
As the fourth kingdom, or the Roman empire, was lepresented
in a twofold state, first strong and flourishing, " with legs of
iron," and then weakened and divided, " with feet and tees
part of iron and part of clay ;" so this fifth kingdom, or the king-
dom of Christ., is described likewise in two states, which Mr.
Mede 9 rightly distinguisheth by the names of ' regnnm lapi-
diis,' the kingdom of the stone, and 'regnum mentis,' the king-
(hi)i of the mountain; the first when " the stone was cut out of
the mountain without hands," ihe second when it. became itself
" a mountain and filled the whole earth." " The si one was cut
out of tlic mountain without lumds," the kingdom of Christ
was first set up, while the Roman empire was in its foil strength,
" with legs of iron." The Roman empire was afterwards di-
vided into ten lesser kingdoms, the remains of which are sub-
sisting at present. The image is still standing upon his feet
and toes of iron and clay; the kingdom of Christ is yet "a
stone of stumbling, and a rock of oflence :" hut the stone will
one day smite the image upon the feet and foes, and destroy it
utterly, and will itself "become a great mountain, and fill the
whole earth:" or, in other words, (Rev. xi. 15,) "the kingdoms
of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his
Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever." We have there-
fore seen the kingdom of the stone, but we have not yet seen the
kingdom of the r,\ounlain. Some parts of this prophecy still re-
main to be fulfilled : but the exact completion of the other parts
will not suffer us to doubt of the accomplishment of the rest also
in due season.
As we may presume to say that this is the only true and
genuine interpretation of this passage, so likewise is it the
most consonant to the sense of all ancient writers, both Jews
3 Mc.Ie's Works, b. 4, epist 8, p. 743.
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
195
nr»d Chrisliaup ; and its antiquity will be n further recommen-
dation nnil confirmation of its truth. Jonathan Ben UzzioJ,
who made the Chaldee Targum or paraphrase npon the pro-
pliot^, 1 lived a, little before our Saviour, lie made no Chaldee
version of Daniel, the greater part of this book being original 1 v
wrilleu in Chaldee, or his version is lost: but, however, lie
applies the prophecies of Daniel in his interpretation of other
prophets. Thus in his paraphrase upon Habakkuk be epenk-
eth of the four great kingdoms of the earth, 2 that they should
in their turns be destroyed, and be succeeded by the kingdom of
the Messiah. ' For the kingdom of Babylon shall not, conlimv,
nor exercise dominion over Israel ; the kings of Media shall be
slain, and the strong men of Greece shall not prosper ; the Ro-
mans shall be blotted out, nor collect tribute from Jerusalem.
Therefore because of the sign and redemption which thou shalt
accomplish for thy Christ, and for the remnant of thy people,
they who remain shall praise thee, &c.'
The sense of Josephus we will give in the words of Bishop
Chandler, 3 together with his reflections upon it. 'Joscphus's
exposition of this text is so full in the point, that it ought not
to be omitted. Josephus was born while Jesus Christ lived,
and was, im ] ie sn ys, 4 skilful in the knowledge of the sacred
books of the prophets, being himself a priest, and the son of
a priest, and exercised this way. Hear then his sense of that
part of the dream we have been upon. Daniel foretold, 5 that
the second kingdom should be taken out of the way, by one
that should come from the west clothed with brazen arms : and
also that the strength of this (empire) another should put an
end to, that should be like to iron, which from the nature of
the mineral is superior to gold, silver, and brass. Daniel added
1 Waltwii Prolczom. xn. 10. Wolf.i
Bihlioth. H<d>r. 1. fi, c. 2, $ 2. Prideaux
Connect, part 2, b. 8, anno 27. Herod. 1.
u Habak. iii. 17, 18. 'Etenim re^nnm
Babel non-permanebit, neo cxercebit domi-
nium in Israel ; trilcidabnntnr re^es Medi:e,
ct fortes Grecire non prosperabrtntur; dele-
buntur, Romani, nec colh'ent tributum de
Jerusalem. Itaque propter signum ct re-
demptionein qute facics Christo tun et reli-
quiis populi tui, qui remanubunt confitebun-
tur dieendo, &c.'
3 Defence of Christianity, chap. 2, 5 2,
p. 104, &c. 3d edit.
4 Joseph. de Bell. Jud. 1. 3, c. 7, § 3.
b T'}»' &r Utlmv '£rip6$ rts airb Motois Ka-
Oaipfjcrei y.i.Wi/ rifidiwufvos, Kai Tavrnv ti\-
\rj Trai'oci ttjv loicyv Huota cib'ripto, Kai Karnvct
$£ eh cirraoav (Vi rrjv too cridi'jpov tpiuiv, ttvat
yap aori]v (rrrp oTtpuv ttjs too y^pvcoo Kai tov
ipyvpOV Ka{ TOO ya\KOU. 'E(5j/XwCT£ r*e KaiTrtpi
Toy kiOou AaiaijXos I3aui\zi d\X epoi fiev
ook e5o^£ Todro lirrooctv, ra TansMfyrn KaiTti
yeyevmitvi cvyypdi'iztv, oh Ta juWovra <30£i-
\ovn. El 8e ns r;fj aXnOelas y^i%6pevos oil
TtnttaTaTat jroXuirpayuomr, uis Kai ~znl t&v
a?>ij\'jiv d ytvfrriTai poi*\etjQai uaBttvj anoi-
SaatTui to piCMon Avayviovai too &avi>}\ov '
tVpt'jOEl <5t TOt'TO tV TVli Up0l$ ypiiuLiaiTlV. II'
Inrum atttcm imperium alius quidam ab occU
denie i^enien-s deslmet, cere totus obductus t
atque hujus vires alia vis dcbellabit firro simi-
lis, casque in universum impcrio premet prop-
ter ferri naturam, quod ea sit auro et argento
et cere validior. Quill et Danielus regi ostcn-
dit omnia de saxo ; sed mihi isla narrare non
libuit, cui id negvtii datum est, ut prceierita non
futura Uteris consignarem. Si quis autem
veritatis avidus nolil ab Us paulo curiosius in-
quirendis desislere, ut qui de incertis, anfutu*
ra sint, scire desiderat, det operam ut Danith
librum perlegat, quern in sarrorum librorum
codice inveniet. Joseph. Antiq. 1. 10, c.10
§4-
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BISHOP NEWTON
liis interpretation of tiie stone; but I do not think fit to reiate
that ; niv business being only to give a history of past and
nnrhj <hma things, not to write of future things. Yet if there be
anvV.ne (hat is eager after truth, and will not give over inquir-
ing, in order to learn those obscure events that arc to come,
let him carefully read the book itself, which he will line! among
our sacred (or canonical) books. Upon this passage observe,
(lint the fourth empire is the Roman, in his judgment; because
the third kingdom, which ho begins in Alexander, was de-
stroyed, not by the Greek generals, but by the Romans.
Again, the fourth empire he reckons to be past, i. e. to be set
up in the room of the Greek, and therefore he gives an his-
torical explication of that, among the past events. But the
kingdom of the stone being future, he refuses to touch on that.
J i lit he had a better reason than lie gave : he feared to offend
the power in being, whose protection he needed, and which,
he foresaw, must be offended, if he should publish the hope of
his captive nation, one day to subdue their conquerors. We
see however, in his excuse for stopping short, his sense of the
prophecy that is yet unfulfilled, viz. that the kingdom of the
God of heaven should break in pieces the Roman ; and which
he must consequently suppose will continue, till it gives place
to the everlasting kingdom of the Messiah. And in this belief
Christ confirmed the Jews, at the time he warned them of their
own excision. " The kingdom of God," saith he, (Matth. xxii.
43, 44,) or all the advantages of the Messiah's coming, "shall
be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the
fruits thereof." "For whosoever shall fall against this stone,
(as one of your prophets predicted, Isa. viii. 14, 15,) shall be
broken :" " but," I add from another prophet, (Dan. ii. 34, 35,)
something more grievous for those that shall break you, " on
whomsoever it shall fall it will grind him to powder." The
kingdom of the stone shall bruise the Jews that stumbled at
Christ's first coming ; but the kingdom of the mountain, when
manifested, shall beat the feet of the monarchical statue to dust,
and leave no remains of the fourth monarchy in its last and de-
generate state.'
The same notion was prevalent among the ancient Chris-
tians, as well as among the Jews. St. Jerome and all the fathers,
who have occasion to comment upon this passage, give the
same interpretation : but we love not to multiply quotations ;
it will be sufficient to produce the testimonies of'that eloquent
preacher St. Chrysostom, and of that elegant historian Sulpi-
cius Severus. St. Chrysostom is too copious to be quoted at
large : we must content ourselves with some extracts out of
him. 'For what reason,' saith he, 'doth he call Nebuchad-
nezzar's kingdom of gold, and that of the Persians of silver,
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
197
and that of the Macedonians of brass, and that of the Romans
of iron and clay? 6 See the materials rightly disposed ; for gold
represents riches ; so likewise was that kingdom — and it occu-
pies the head, because it appeared the first. But that of the
Persians was not so wealthy, as neither was that of the Mace-
donians: bat that of the Romans was both more useful and
stronger, and later in time, wherefore it occupies the place of
(he feet. But some parts of this kingdom are weak, and other
are stronger. "And in the days of those kings shall the God of
heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed ; and
the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break
in pieces, and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for
ever." Bring hither to me the Jews. What will they say con-
cerning this prophecy 1 for it is by no means right to say of any
human kingdom, that it shall be everlasting or without end. —
" In the days of those kings," to wit the Romans. But if they
say how can he break in pieces the gold, the kingdom of the
Babylonians destroyed long ago] how the silver, the kingdom of
the Persians ] how the brass, the kingdom of the Macedonians ?
for these are past long ago, and are come to an end — how can
tie destroy kingdoms which are already destroyed 1 But to de-
stroy others in which these are included, amounts to the same
thing.
Tims o y tvtKtv rr)v ahroZ @aai\riav Ka\u
^ptxr^i/, rrjv oi tZv Tlepawv dpyvpav, teal Trjv
MaKsSomv x a ^xvv, Kai t?)v rotv 'Pw^fltWn-
O'jpav Kai OOTpnxiinjv npa KaraAAtjAouf raff
i'Aaff. 'O yap %pvao$ ttXovtov pet/ tan iitrpav-
TiKOV ovrw Kai heivi] PaaiAzia Kt-
fa\i)v tVi hlxu, f-a<5>i irpwr;; tQdvn- 'II bl
Tlspvwv qvk oi'iros' Evrropos., wotteo ouv oiibe Ma-
Kcoowiiv, i/ ai 'Piopatoiv %pjiai[iu>TEpd tl Kai
&m<pf5reofi, vtjrioa pep Tois #p<Jw)tff, fab Kai
irotev ra'fiv (VfJCtl. "Eo-ti le aiiTin tA uh
aaOzvij, to. 6i la^yporepa. Quare autdn regnum
Nn'mchodannsnris vocal aureum, Persarum
autfjm aTgenteum, Macednnum fflrewl?, Roma-
wtrum fcrreum tWpte testnecum '! Videdispa-
siUm mnvenienter materins. Nam aurum Hi-
vitiia quidem reprwntat Sic et regnum
Bnhylonium — - Caput autem ac.cupal ; quia
rcznuril illud fuii primum. Persarum vera
immrium nan adea npulrntum fuit : sicutnec
Macedo'ium : at Rnmanomm < utUiu.i ac for-
tius; tempore quidem pnsterius, quare ei pe-
dum locum obtinet. Porro Mn! hujus rezni
queedam inflrma, et quasdam robustiora. —
Kai ev rais hptaais rCiv (taoiMwv ixsivtav dva-
CTtUtih $co; rot olpavao fianXciav, %Tlf cis
toi'j; atHmt oi SiatpSaffiaerai ■ Kai ^ ISamMa
avTciu \a<i iTtpoi 011% iixoXriQQ'io-cTai Xitttvvu '
Kai XiKp'idCl irdaas to? fiainXclas ' Kai ai-i)
ivatrT^tTai £<ff Toils al&iras. "Aye uoi Tails
t lovbatous ivravOa ri av ukolcv mpl rijff wpo-
17*
</ii;rcf(ij ravT7}<; ; ov yap fir'iirov TTEpt avOptjrrrtvrjs
Tavra Si/iK EijreTv, ort aTr£ipo$ larai fj Qatri-
h ralg ^u/pa/? rwv fiaviXtwv tndvbi\\
T(5v c Pw/m(W Srj'Xovdri. "AAAw? i5f tt \iyoizv,
Kai tt(o$ tov xpvvov cvvirptxpe, tt]v BuSv^mvIlov
fiaaiXctav irdXai Karacuf-vauOetaav^ [KtiTaaKz-
&aad£ierav ;] ttw; he tqv ap/upoi/, rrjv WzqcjSiv ;
WWS rbv ^hX/.-oi', ti)v MixKefidvwv ; ravra
yap TrdXai fytvzTo, Kai rAo? eXaftev. IliSg
Trti- tj5r/ (r0tad£iaag flaotXttus KaOaipct ; a\Xa
to Ka8ato£tv tTfpas iv aij ai rotavrat claiv,
tiicdruii ifi-otit. 1 Et in dicbus regum illo-
rurn susctiabit Dcus cali regnum, quad in su;-
cula non carrumpeter : et regnum ejus populo
alUri non rclinqucter : comminuct et verdila-
bit universn regno. ; et ipsum exawget, in scc-
cuta.* Adilucito mihi hue Judtvoa. Quid de
hoc prophetia dicturi sunt ? Neque enim pro~
fer.to de humann regno hcec fas est dicere ; sci-
licet regnum infinitum fore — i In diehus re-
gum illoram Romanorum videlicet. Quod
si dicant : quomndo aurum conterere potirit,
nempe regnum Babyloniorum, quod jam otim
erat dsMructum, ? Quomodo etiam argentum^
nimirum regnum Persarum ? Kt quomudo
eeSy scilicet regnum Macedonum ? H(ec enrm
quondam fuer ant y et finem acceptrrant. —
Quomodo jam exlincta regno, destruat ? Quia
nimirum destruit alia regna, in quibus hrec
continentur. S. Jo. Chrysost, in Danielem,
p. 214 et 216, torn. 6.
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BISHOP NEWTON
Sulpicius Severus having given an account of Nebuchadnez-
zar's dream, and of all the particulars relating to it., subjoins an
exposition 7 of it, agreeable to Daniel's interpretation. 'The
imau'i. is nil etnblein of the world. The golden bear! is the empire
df I he ( : halda:ans : forasmuch as I hat. was the lirst ami most
wealthy. The breast and arms of silver signify the second king.
(I: mi : For Cyrus, (lie Chalda-ansand Medes beingovereome, trans-
ieired lite empire to (he Persians. In the brazen belly the third
kingdom is declared to he portended ; and that we see fulfilled :
Forasmuch as the empire taken from the Persians Alexander
vindicated to Macedonia. The iron legs are the fourth king-
dom : and that is the Roman, the strongest of all the kingdoms
beibre it. But the feel, part of iron and part of clay, prefigure
the Roman empire to be so divided as that it should never unite
airain : which is equally Infilled — Forasmuch as the Roman ter-
ritory is occupied by foreign nations or rebels : — and we see (saith
he, and he lived at the beginning of the fifth century s ) barbarous
nations mixed with our armies, cities, and provinces — But in the
stone cut out without hands, which brake in pieces the gold, the
silver, the biass, the iron, and the clay, we have a figure of
Christ. For he shall reduce this world, in which are the king-
doms of the earth, to nothing, and shall establish another ever-
lasting kingdom. Of which alone the faith of some is still dubious,
and they will not credit future things, when they are convinced
of the past.
Nay Grot ins himself, the great patron of the other opinion,
that the fifth kingdom is the Roman empire, commenting upon
those words, (ver. 45,) "it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the
clay, the silver, and the gold," cannot but acknowledge that 9
the sublimer sense is, that Christ will put an end to all earthly
empires, according to 1 Cor. xv. 24, that "he shall put down ail
rule, and all authority, and power."
T ' Tgitur, secundum prophetje inrerpreta-
tionem, imago visa figurant mundi gerit. Ca-
put anreuirl, Chalda:orum imperium est : si-
quidem id priiuurn el opuleniissimum fuisse
accepimus. Pectus et brachia argentea se-
cundum regnum annunoiant. Cyrus enim,
viclis CIia!da:-is atone Medis, imperium ad
Persas coniulit. In ventre aireo tertium
regnum portendi pronunciatur ; idque im-
pletum videmus. Siquidem Alexander erep-
tum Porsis imperium Macedonia; vindicavit.
Crura ferrea, imperium quarlum : idque Ro-
manum inlelligitur, omnium ante regnornm
validissimurn. Pedes vero partim ferrei,
partim ficules, dividendum esse Romanum
regnum, ita ut nunquam inter se coeat, pr;i>
figurant : quod a?que imptetum est, Si-
quidem Romanum solum ab exteris geiHibus
aut rebellibus occupatum ; — exereitibusque
nostris, urbibus atque provinciis permixtas
barbiiras nationes — videmus. In lapide
vero sine manibus abscisso, qui aurum, ar-
gentum, aes, et fevrum testamque comminuit,
Chrisli figura.n esse. Is enim muudum is-
tum, in quo sunt regna terrarum, in nibilum
rediget, regnumque aliud incorruptum cori-
firmabit. De quo uno adhuc quorundam
fides in ambiguo est, non credendum de fu-
turis, cum de prreteritis convincantur.' Sul-
pici; Sacr. Hist. 1. 2, p. 6b, 67, edit. Elzevir.
1656.
8 Cave, Hist. Litt. vol. 1, p. 374.
* 1 Sensus sublimior, Christum finem im-
positurum omnibus imperils terrestribus,
1 Cor. xv. 24.' Grot, in locum.
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Tim-: it pleased Cod In reveal iinln Daniel, and l)v Daniel
unto Nebuchadnezzar, ilic ^realc^t and most signal events of
tlm Wnrlil. As Daniel said unto Nebuchadnezzar, (ver. '15:)
" Tin 1 L'l'i'ai ''"'1 lialli made, known lo tlie kin:r what shall come
to pass hereafter; and the dream is certain, and 1 lit; interpre-
tation thereof is sure." The kitiu; hearintr his dream related
with such exactness, might he heller ;issnred of the truth of
the interpretation, and of the great events which slioulil follow.
Anil from hence we are enahled in some measure to account
for Nebuchadnezzar's prophesying a litl le hefore he (lied. Aby-
(lenus wrote the history of (he Assyrians. It is not well known
in what aire he lived, and his history is lost : hut there is a frag-
lneut of it pri'serverl by Eusebius, wherein it is asserted upon the
authority of Megasihenes, that Nebuchadnezzar was divinely
inspired and prophesied in this manner: 1 ' I Nebuchadnezzar
foretel unto you, 0 Babylonians, an imminent calamity, which
neither Belus my progenitor, nor (pieen Bellis can persuade (he
fates to avert : A Persian mule shall come, assisted by your
demons, and impose servitude upon you ; whose coadjutor shall
lie a Mede, the boast, of the Assyrians.' And soon after he died.
Herodotus, w ho was a much older historian (ban Megasthenes,
relates that a Delphic oracle was given to Cr:esus king of Lydia,
that - when a mule should rule over the Medes, then he should
not be ashamed to fly away. Which oracle was afterwards thus
interpreted by the Pythian priestess: Cyrus 3 was this mule; for
he was born of parents of different nations, the mother the better,
and the father the meaner; for she was a Mede, and a daughter
of the king of the Medes, but he was a Persian, and subject to
the Medes. If any credit is to he given to these stories, if any
such prophecy was uttered by Nebuchadnezzar a little before bis
death, if any such oracle was received and believed of Cyrus and
the Per.-ians subduing Asia, the notion, the tradition may very
well be supposed to have been derived originally from this pro-
phecy of Daniel, which being so solemnly delivered to a great
1 'F.yiij Xft, l ?'NM"rj?O'$<r0o-'jy, 5 Ttaftv^'Avtot,
HJi 1 /i f.WjUT'i r i'.'iv ~t> 1'iyytWii! cvif''00>H'. Tiiv
3 rt li 't.\"s* tubs tiroc, !'/ re iinaiScta Ri;A-
rt< ti -T'trof - ,ii points -ctfr.'u tiaOtyoTifftv, *H$«
ll>'l>n>!i fyioi's'. Tut'Tii vfitripoirri hit/ton \of
t5;»{i'K (Tt'.'i-f'i ^rurtV fVi('£fl f'f i T .JuX(7Cm'f/t'.
Oi' i'ij Gfl'uirt'is [unit Mi/c'17;, rb ' Aaavotov
at'\t!t"i- .Vif'itWiw/rfWWrten, O Bakyln-
nii. im tii'ifitrtn robix rtdtuniiatem prfpnuncio,
qwru l } 'ti ''is nti <t< < rrwurnt, tier. Bilus gene-
ris ri'istri uuri'ir, tttc retina Btllift ]>ersua<lcre
uri'i'nrii ji'tttrttnl. Persiens venict mw/ws,
qui >lti>n'nnfi rrstrurum usim auxilio, durum
ctrri(>'<us n*t-i< iuintrn imponrt. Atqtte
hujii* (•/ (.'/.>■ <iu ■!■'!■ < ti'i'n Melius quidnm frit,
quo nulr As*hni m rjuvpere gluriuliantur.
Euseb. Pra-ji. K\iiuj>. 1. 9, c. 41.
rut.
Km r<Jrc, k. t. X.
lirgis apttd j\fvrit).1 Tniiln jam ttrdr potito,
Jjpte fiigtim, — Herod. I. 1, r. 65.
3 v Hv yuo S?l b KFpos ovTui fotovos " Ik ytif
tvotv ovk bpoeOviuJv £ycy6vee t ftnrpos dfjcl-
vqvos, miTpbr ?t ftTToSutrreoav. '}l fitv yuo )v
M'/os. Kai 'Aarvtiytos Suydrrja tuTi t/l^Swv
Ptioi'Xtws' o Of Xlioam rt ?n\ Ku\ ao\6jiL\>os
vt' Ikzivoioi. N'tui muluK hie Vurtis erat :
quippc qui duobuit dirrrsnmm gentium paren-
tif'ux ortus sit, trcnerosi'ire matre qwiin prttre.
Nam ilia quiilrm Mfdm errtt, Asttpiai* Me-
dtirurn rtgis .filia ; Ric auu m Pirg i 7 tt yied'a
suhjectws. Heruti. ib. c. 91.
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BISHOP NEWTON
king, and published in Chaldee, might come to be generally
known in the cast ; and the event soon afterwards evinced the
truth of it.
It was from this prophecy, too, that the distinction first arose of
the four great empires of the world, which hath been followed
by most historians and chronologcrs in their distribution of times.
These four empires, as they are the subject of this prophecy,
are likewise the subject of the most celebrated pens both in
.former and in latter ages. The histories of these empires arc the
best writ, and the most read of any ; they are the study of the
learned, and the amusement of the polite; they are of use both
iir schools, and in senates; we learn them when we are young,
and wc forget them not when we are old ; from hence examples,
instructions, laws and politics are derived for all ages ; and very
little in comparison is known of other times or of other nations.
Not but there have been empires as great or greater (ban some
of these, as those of the Tartars for instance, and of the Sara-
cens, and of the Turks; and you may think, perhaps, that, they
are as well deserving of a place in this succession of kingdoms,
and were equally worthy to be made the objects of prophecy,
being as eminent for the wisdom of their constitutions, the ex-
tent of their dominions, and the length of their duration. But
these four empires had a particular relation to the church and
people of God, who were subject to each of them in their turns.
They were therefore particularly predicted; and we have in
them, without the intermixture of others, a line of prophecy (as
I may say) extending from the reign of Nebuchadnezzar to the
full and complete establishment of the kingdom of the Messiah.
He who is arbiter of kingdoms, and governor of the universe,
can reveal as much of their future revolutions as lie pleaseth :
and he hath revealed enough to manifest his providence, and to
confirm the truth of religion. What Daniel said upon the first
discovery of these things, well may we say after the completion
of so many particulars, (ver. 20, 21, 22:) "Blessed be the
name of God for ever and ever ; for wisdom and might are his.
And he changeth the times and the seasons : he removcih kings,
and setlcth up kings : he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and
knowledge to them that know understanding. He revealeth the
deep and secret tilings: he knoweth what is in the darkness,
and the light dwelleth with him."
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201
XIV. — oamkl's vision of tiif. same.
WHAT was revealed unlo Nebuchadnezzar in ihc second
year of his reign concerning llio lour great empires of
llie world, was again revealed unto Daniel, (chap, vii.) with some
enlargements and addil ions, in tlie first year of IJelshazzar, that
is about eight and forty years afterwards. Hut, there is this
diHerence, that what was exhibited to Nebuchadnezzar in the
firm of a great image, was represented to Daniel in ihe shape
of great wild beasts. The reason of which is ingenious! v as-
signed by Grotius, and after him by 'Mr. Lowth, 'tliat this
image appeared with a glorious lustre in (he imagination of Ne-
buchadnezzar, whose mind was wholly taken up with admira-
tion of worldly pomp and splendour; whereas the same monar-
chic* were represented to Daniel under the shape of fierce and
wild beasts, as being the great supporters of idolatry and I , ninny
in the world.'
Daniel dreamed, and the angel interpreted. "These trreat
beasts, which arc four, (says the angel, ver. 17,) are four kinus,"
or kingdoms, as it. is translated in the Vulgar Latin, and the
Greek and Arabic versions, and as the angel himself explains
it, (ver. 23,) "The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom
upon earth." They arise out of a stormy and tempestuous sea,
that is out of the wars and commotions of the world: and they
are called great in comparison of other lesser states and king-
doms, as they are denominated beasts for their tyrannical and
cruel oppressions and depredations. These beasts are indeed
monstrous productions ; a lion with eagle's wings, a bear with
three ribs in the mouth of it, u leopard with four wings and four
heads, and a beast, with ten horns: but such emblems and hie-
roglyphics were usual among the eastern nations ; a winded lion
and such like fictitious animals may still be seen in (lie ' 2 ruins
of Persepolis ; horns are attributed to beasts, which naturally
have none ; and these figures were, as I may say, the arms and
symbols of such and such nations, and are no stranger than
several which are still used in modern heraldry. We will con-
sider them in order, and take notice only r of such interpreta-
tions as carry in them something probable and plausible, to the
end that we may establish what is more certain. To recite all
the various opinions of commentators would be but heaping up
a monument of the absurdities of former ages. We may col-
lect something from one, and something from another, and yet
in all respects perfectly agree with none.
I. The. first kingdom is represented by a beast, (ver. 4,) that
1 "jowth's Comment, on chapter ii. 31. * See Sir John Charciin and other tr».
(rroi'us ibid. Tellers.
2 A
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BISHOP NEWTON
was "like ;i '!•>!). and hail eagle's wings : nnd I beheld till the
\viii_;-- i!i •!•.••>!' were plucked, ;u id il. was lifted up from the earth,
liii 1 ,..,!• -land upon the feet a- a man, and a man's heart was
<;•'•, ■>." This is the kingdom of the. (labylonians : and the
(,:, i - '• sialiv'on is in like" maimer compared to a lion by Jere-
i.i ■ I \. 7.) " The lion is come up from his thicket, and the
1 1 ■ . of i lie (J entiles is on his wav ;" and lie is said lo fly
: ■ . i i ' urle, (vlviii. •!'»,) " Heboid, he shall lly as an eayie, iind
- : '! -■]>]■. ad his wimvs over Moab;" and he is also compared to
an ..:.•.'!«• l.y Kzekiel, (xvii. 3, 12.) "Thus saith the I/Jnl find,
A ii'i-e ii ei<_r'e with ureal wind's, &e." The lion is esteemed the
kimi of heists, and the eagle the king of hints : and therefore
t!t.> kingdom of Babylon, which is described as the first and
il 'iirie-1 king lorn, and was the kingdom then in being, is said to
partake of the nature of both. Instead of a Von, the Vulgat
Latin, and the Greek", and. Arabic versions have a Honrs.? ; and it
is :! Jerome's observation, that the kingdom of Babylon for its
cruelt v is compared not to a lion, hut to a lioness, which natu-
ralists say is the fiercer of the two.
The " eagle's wings" denote its swiftness and rapidity: and
the conquests of Babylon were very rapid, that empire being
advanced to the height within a few years hy a single person,
bv the conduct arid arms of Nebuchadnezzar. It, is farther said,
li The wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the
earth," that is, it, was taken away from the earth, as it, is com-
monly understood, and as it. is translated in almost all the 4 an-
cient versions : or it may be rendered thus, the wings (hereof were
pfii'-kr.'l wherewith it tens lifted itp from the earth, as 5 Grotius
explains it, and as we read it. in the margin of our Bibles, the
conjunction copulative sometimes supplying the place of a rela-
tive. Its wings were beginning to he plucked at the time of the
delivery of ibis prophecy; for at this time the Merles and Per-
sians were encroaching upon it ; Belshazzar, the king now reign-
ing, was the last of his race ; and in the 6 seventeenth year of his
reign, Babylon was taken, and the kingdom was transferred to
the Medes and Persians.
" And it was made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's
heart was given to it." It is not easy to say what is the precise
meaning of this passage ; unless il be an allusion to the case of
Nebuchadnezzar, when in his madness, (iv. 6,) "a beast's heart
3 rt'-imum Babvlonium propter sx : vitiam
e! ':ni I'-liiuirrii, — nun Iimi, su'.l teaua appi.t-
la'ur. Ai'iiil enim hi qui tie bestiarum M.-rip-
F'T<' naatrH I'rfiias esve feroctores, &c*
llii'r.iii. G jiiiiii'.'iit . in .ormn.
4 "'Ei -uli:aia i--t (intuit) di: terra ;*
?u!)Vi-rs f \ i I' iicf-r. invito \ irnp'-ri'i] C:nMf>
""iim.' Tlicrnn. ioui. tvii t^TjiiOti ti~b T?jg
y}}t. Si-pt. " Viitcliam evtilsas e-i.se alas
ejns, ct ab hmno sublatam." Syrian. "El
egressa est (to terra." Arab.
5 " Et snblata est tie terra." Vcrte : per
quas r/Terebatur uipra terrain. S epe enim
ChaMois, til, et Hehreis, copula vim habet
relaliva. 1 Grnt. in locum.
« Joseph. Anti.p I. 10, o. 11, §4, p. 462.
Usher, Piidoaux, anil other chronologr s.
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was given unto him," and after he was restored to his senses, " a
man's heart was given to liini" iigain. What appears most,
probable is, that, after the Babylonian empire was subverted, t lie
people became more humane and <renl.lt;: their minds were
Jmmb'ed with their fortune ; and they who vaunted ns if they
had been gods, now felt themselves to he hut men. They were
brought to such a sense as the Psalmist wishelh such persons
to have, (Psal. ix. 20,) "Pitt them iu fear, O Lord ; that the na-
tions may know themselves to he but men."
II. The second kingdom is represented, (ver. 5,) by "another
beast like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it bad
three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it : and they
said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh." This is the king-
dom of the Medes and Persians : and for their cruelty and gree-
diness after blood they are compared to a bear, which is a most
voracious and cruel animal. The very learned 7 Boehar!, recounts
several particulars, wherein the Persians resembled bears : but
the chief likeness consisted in what I have mentioned : and
this likeness was principally intended by the prophet, as I think
we may infer from the words of the text itself: "Arise, devour
much llesh." A hear, saith Aristotle, is an all-devouring animal:
and so, saith 8 Grotius, the Medo-Persians were great robbers and
spoilers, according to Jeremiah, (li. 48, 58.)
" And it raised up itself on one side," or as it is in the mar-
gin, it raised up one dominion ; for the Persians were subject to
the Medes at the conquest of Babylon, but soon after raised
up themselves above them. " And it had three ribs in the mouth
of it between the teeth of it :" these 9 Jerome understands of
the three kingdoms of the Babylonians, Medes, and Persians,
which were reduced into one kingdom ; and so likewise Vata-
blus and Grotius: but 1 Sir Isaac Newton and Bishop Chandlei
with greater propriety explain them to signify the kingdoms of
Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt, which were conquered by it, but
were not properly parts and members of its body. They might
be called ribs, as the conquest of them much strengthened the
Persian empire ; and they might be said to be between the teeth
of the bear, as they were, much grinded and oppressed by the
Persians.
" And they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh :" this
was said, as it was before observed, to denote the cruelty of the
* Boehirti Hierozoic. pars prior, I. 3,c. 9,
col. 816, Sc. ...
* ' Urstis £wov trafitpayov [animal omnia
vorans] ait Aristoteles vin. 5. Sic Medo-
perste rarrtores ma^rii, praodones, Jeremiae
Lt. 48, 56.' Grot, in locum.
9 Ergo tics ordincs in ore regni Persa-
rum, et in dentibus ejus, tria regna debemus
acc.ipere, Babyloniorum, Menorum, atquo
Persarum ; qum in unum reducta sum reg-
num.' Hieron. Comment, in loc. Vatablus
et Grot, ni locum.
1 Sir Isaac Newton's Observations on
Daniel, c. 4, p. 29. Bishop Ciiandler's Vin-
dication, b. 1, c. 2, § 2, p. 198.
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BISHOP NEWTON
Medcs and Persians. They are also represented very cruel by
the prophet Isaiah, (xiii. 18 :) " Their bows also shall dash the
young men to pieces, and they shall have no pity on the fruit of
(he womb ; their eye shall not spare children." Cambysis, Ochus,
and e! hers of their princes were indeed more like hears than men.
Instances of their cruelly abound in almost all the historians,
who have written of their affairs from Herodotus down to Am-
miiuiiis Marcellinus, 2 w 1 10 describes them proud, cruel, exercising
the power of life and death over slaves and obscure plebeians.
They pull off the skins, says he, from men alive, by pieces or
nil together: and they have abominable laws, by which for one
man's offence all the neighbourhood is destroyed. Well therefore
might a learned 3 French commentator say, that the Persians
have exercised the most severe and the most cruel dominion that
we know of. The punishments used among them beget horror
in those who read of them.
III. The third kingdom is represented, (ver. 6,) by "another
beast, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings
of a fowl ; the beast had also four heads ; and dominion was
given to it." This is the kingdom of the Macedonians or Gre-
cians, who under the command of Alexander the Great over-
came the Persians, and reigned next after them : and it is fitly
compared to a leopard upon several accounts. The leopard is
remarkable for swiftness ; " their horses, (saith the prophet Ha-
bakkuk, i. 8,) are swifter than the leopards :" and Alexander and
the Macedonians were amazingly swift and rapid in their con-
quests. The leopard is a spotted animal : and so was a proper
emblem, according to 4 Bochart, of the different manners of the
nations which Alexander commanded ; or, according to 5 Gro-
tius, of the various manners of Alexander himself, who was
sometimes merciful, and sometimes cruel ; sometimes tempe-
rate, and sometimes drunken ; sometimes abstemious, and
sometimes incontinent. The leopard, as 6 Bochart observes, is
of small stature, but of great courage, so as not to be afraid to
engage with the lion and the largest beasts ; and so Alexander,
2 * Superbi, crudcles, viftr: nerisque po
testatem in servos et plebeios vindicantes
obscurns. Cur^s vivis hominihus defrahunt
partirulatim vel solidas. — Leges apud eos
— abominonda; — per quas ob noxam unius
omnis propinquilas perit.' Amrn. Marcoll.
1. 23, c. 6.
3 ' Les Pcrses ont exere£ la domination
la plus severe, et la plus cruelle que l'on
eonnoisse. Les supplioes usitcz parmi etix
font horreur a ceux qui les liseut.' Calmet
in Dan.
4 ' Macvilas pardi referunt gentium, qui-
biiF imperavit, diversi mores.' Bochart.
aierozoic. pars prior, 1. 3, c. 7, col. 789
6 ' Pardus Varium animal. Sic Alexan-
der moribus variis ; modo clemens, modo
crudelis : modo victns temperati, modo ebri-
osus ; modo ahslinens, modo indulgens amo-
ribus.' Grot, in locum.
6 *U~t pardus statura parvus est, sed am-
nio et robore ntaxime prrr-stans, ita ut cum
leone et procerissimis quibusque feris con-
grcdi non vereatur : sic Alexander pene re
gulus, et cum exiguo apparatu, regem regum
agizredi ausus est, id est, Dariuin, cujus reg-
num a mari jSEgaeo usque ad Indos extende-
batiir. 1 Bochart. Hieroz. pars prior, 1. 3,
c. 7, col. 789.
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205
si lif 1.1c: king in comparison, of small s-UiUire Inn, awl with ;t small
army, dared lo attack tlic king of kim/s, th-n. i< Darin.-!, whose
kin:j Inn w as extended from Ilia m ; -:-a lo llic Indies.
Oil; ■:■-! In vis pursued the comparison i'l ■;•! I n-r, li:it with more
Hiihfiliy liian solidity; lor I conceive principal point of
likr:i was designed between the s\viTi.ne*i and impetuosity
of lli", one and the other.
I\>r I lie same reason the beast, "had upon (lie buck of if,
four w.'ngs of a fowl." The Babylonian empire was repre-
sented with two wings, but this is described with four. For,
as Jerome saith, ' nothing was swifter than the victories of
Alexander, who ran through all the countries from Illyricunt
and the Adriatic sea to the Indian ocean and (he river Ganges,
not so much fighting as conquering, and in six years (lie should
have said in twelve) subjugated part of Europe, and all Asia lo
himself. "The beast had also four heads:" to denote the
lour kingdoms into which this same third kingdom should be
divided, as it was divided into four kingdoms after the death
of Alexander, 8 his four captains, Cassander reigning over Ma-
cedou and Greece, Lysimachus over Thrace and Bilhynia,
Ptolemy over Egypt, and Seleucus over Syria. "And domi-
nion was given to it;" which showolh, as Jerome saith, 9 that
it was not owing to the fortitude of Alexander, but proceeded
from the will of the Lord. And indeed unless he had been
directed, preserved, and assisted by the mighty power of God,
how could Alexander with thirty thousand men have overcome
Darius with six hundred thousand, and in so short a time have
brought all the countries from Greece as far as to India into
subjection 1
IV. The fourth kingdom is represented (ver. 7) by a "fourth
beast, dreadful and terrible; and strong exceedingly; and it
had great iron teeth ; it devoured, and brake in pieces, and
stamped the residue with the feet of it, and it was diverse from
all the beasts that were before it." Daniel was curious to
know particularly what this might mean, (ver. 19:) "Then I
would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse
from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of
iron, and his nails of brass, which devoured, brake in pieces,
and stamped the residue with his feet." And he was answered
thus by the angel, (ver 23:) "The fourth beast shall be the
fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all
' 1 Nihil cnim Alexandri victoria velocius » See Prideaux Connect, part 1, b. S,
tint, qui, ab Illyrico et Adriatico mari usque anno 301. Ptolemv Soler 4.
ad Indicum oceanum et Gangen fluviuin, 3 'Quodque additur, " Et potestas data
non tarn pr;c!iis, quam victoriis percurrit, et est ei," ostendit, non Alexandri fortiludinis,
in sex annis partem Europe et omnem sibi sed Domini voluntatis fuisse.' Hieron. Com-
Asiam subjugavit.' Hieron. Comment, in ment. in 'oc
loc.
18
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BISHOP NEWTON
kingdoms, and shall devour tlie whole erirlli, nncl shall tread it
down, nnd break it in pieces." This fourth kingdom can he
none other than the Roman empire: for it is as absurd as it
is sino-ulnr, to pretend to reckon the kingdoms of the Selcu-
cid;e in Syria and of the Lngida; or Ptolemies in Egypt as the
fourth kingdom. Calmct. himself acknowledge!!), 1 that this is
usually explained of the Roman empire; and though for rea-
sons of church, as well as reasons of stale, he may prefer the
other hypothesis, yet it is 'without pretending to destroy the
system which understands the fourth empire of the Roman,
and which, as he confessed), is the most commonly received
among interpreters.'
The kingdoms of the Scleucidre and of the Lngidos can in
no respect answer to this description of the fourth beast or
kingdom. It is described as "dreadful, and terrible, and strong
exceedingly :" but the kingdoms of the Lagidce and of the
Scleucidic were less terrible, and less strong than any of the
former kingdoms. It "devoured, and brake in pieces, and
stamped the residue," that is, the remains of the former king-
doms, "with the feet of it:" but the Lagicke and the Scleu-
cidse were almost continually at war with each other; and in-
stead of subduing other kingdoms, tore to pieces their own.
It was " diverse from all kingdoms," that is of a different
nature and constitution of government: but Egypt and Syria
were governed much in the same manner as the former king-
doms, and were equally absolute monarchies. Of the fourth
kingdom it is said, "that it shall devour the whole earth, and
shall tread it down, and break it in pieces :" but this can never
be applied to the kings of Egypt and Syria, who were so far
from enlarging their dominions, that they could not preserve
what was left them by their ancestors.
Wherefore Jerome lightly concluded, 2 that ' the fourth em-
pire which now possesseth the world, is the Roman, whereof
it is said in the statute, " his legs of iron, his feet part of iron,
and part of clay ;" and yet lie mentions now the iron in part,
attesting that it had great iron teeth. And I greatly wonder,
saith he, that when he had before placed a lion, and a bear,
and a leopard in three kingdoms, he should compare the
Roman empire to no beast : unless perhaps that he might
1 'On l'cxpliqne orclinaircment fie Fcmpire
Romain. pans pretendre pour cela de-
truirc le systfiine qui entend [e quatrierne
empire, de l'empiro Romain, et qui est le
pins communement recu parmi les interpre-
ts.' Calmet. in locum.
2 'Quartum quod nunc orbem tenet ter-
ran hi, imperium Romanum est, de quo in
statua dicitur : " Tibia? ejus ferrcre: pedum
^ux-dam pars ferrea, quiedam nctilis e*
tamen ipsitis ferri ex parte nunc memimt,
dentes ejus ferreos et magnos esse contes-
tans. Salisque mirror, quod qunm supra
leienam, et ursum, et pardurn, in tribus reg-
nis posuerit, Romanum regnum nuiii bestjao
compararit; nisi forte ut fbrmidolosam face-
ret bestiarn, vocabulum tacuit ; ut quicquid
ferocius cogifaverimus in bestiis hoc Roma-
nos intelligamus.' Hieron. Comment, in
loc.
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
207
make the beast, more formidable, lie concealed the name ; so
that whatsoever we could imagine the most fierce in boasts,
(hat we should understand (lie Romans to he.' The fourth
boast win so great and horrible, lliat it was not easy to find
an adequate name for it: and the Roman empire was " dread-
Ad, and terrible, and strong exceedingly," beyond any of the
former kingdoms. It was "divers from all kingdoms," not
only iii its republican form of gov rnmcnt, but likewise in
strength, and power, and greatness, length of duration, and
e\!ent of dominion. "It devoured, and brake in pieces, and
stamped the residue with the feet of it it reduced Macedon
into a Roman province 3 about 1GS years, the kingdom of Per-
gamus about 133 years, Syria about 65 years, and Egypt
about 30 years before Christ. And besides the remains of
the Macedonian empire, it subdued many other provinces and
kingdoms, so that it might by a very usual figure be said, to
devour the whole earth, and to tread it down, and break it in pieces ;
and became in a manner, what the Roman writers delighted
to call it, 6 terrarum orbis imperium,' the empire of the ivhola
world.
A Greek writer, too, and he a grave and judicious historian,
who flourished in the reign of Augustus Caesar, hath a remark-
able passage, which is very pertinent to our present purpose.
Speaking of the great superiority of the Roman empire to all
former empires, he sailh, that the Persian was succeeded by the
Macedonian, and the Macedonian by the Roman ; so that he
had no conception of Alexander's erecting one kingdom, and
his successors another, but considered them both as one and the
same kingdom. His words are, 4 < The Macedonian empire hav-
See Usher, Pridcaux, and other chronolo-
gers ;
KaOtXoiiaa laxi' v ) fitytQzi urv apxJiS a~«ffn?
i)7r£pz6d\£To Tit? Trpb avTtjq' xpdvov oi>6i
avr?) wo\i/v ijvOrjatVjdXXa ficrii t>iv 'JiXefyivSpOV
TfXfur^v firt rd xupov fjp^aro <f>ip£trdtu. Atao~
TiicQcTca yap eU roAAoiif $iytp6vas [c<V roXAdfi
£}'f/(Oi'fas,Sylb.] tvOvsaTTO [vrrb] r£jv <5tfl(5a\(<n')
Kai hit 1 hetvovs axpt rfji SevHpas f\ TptTijS
itr\vaaca TrpotXQuv yevea^ aathvris afiri) <U*
ff\f>iivio0i]. Kai oWf abrti fiivroi tracrav Hotijaa-
tq yijv te teal SdXatrcav {irn/KOOV. Ovte ydo At-
Pons* Srt pt) tJJj too; A-Jyvirno, tqX\?iS ovtrtjs
fKo.irtj<rtv t ovte t>iv Hipurrnv oXtjv h-rrnydycro,
«AAti riSr fti» popstwv aur^f fiepwv fifxP 1 ^P?'
Kt}S irpo?i\0e, riov Se faTrep(W a\o( rrjs 'A^pta-
v?i$ KtiTt'tli] SaXntrons. — 'H Si 'Fwfiaiav irtfAts
u-naiH (ih >>pxzi Satj pr) &vtfi$ards f<rnv,
aXy i)T ai-Op-oTiov KaTOiKStrar tcdtrifs $z Kpa-
ret £-1 A. ■iVr ;/-,-, (n't pyvov rT)s hrbg 'HpanXettav
arnXiov, dXX-l k:ii riji 'SlKsaWrKSaj, octj/ ttXcig-
Bat fir) aSvvarSs fori, Trp&rn Ka} pSvn t&v ek
too Tavrbs aiujvog fii'tijiovEvoufviiJv, dvaroXas
Kai SvtTzts opovg ironjaafitvti rTjq SvvtuffTttas*
XpAvos re avri} rov koutovs ou ppaxi'S, aAV
fiffu? ovSe/jtta rum aX\u>v ovte ndXewv ovte (3a-
GiXatdv. Imperium vcro JMaccdonirum, frac-
ti$ Persarum opibus, imperii ampUtudine om-
nia qitotquot ante j 'uerant, super avit : sed ne
ipsum quidem din floruit) at post Alexandra
obitum in pejus ccepti mere. Statim enim in
midtos principes a successoribus distractuin, et
post illos ad secundam usque tertiamve azta-
tern progressum, ipsum per se debilitatum est,
tandemque a Romanis deletum. Verum, ne
ipsum quidem omnes terras omniaque mnria
in suam ditionem rede git. Neque enim Af-
ricce^ quae late patet, nisi partis JEgypto
proximcB, potitum est : neque totam Europam.
subedit, sed ab ejus scptentrionalibus partibiis
ad Thraciam usque proressit ; ab occidentali-
ous vero usque ad Adrinticum mare descen-
dit. At respnblica Romnna tntius terrtS)
qua; non est deseiia, sed ab hominibus incoli*
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208
BISHOP NEWTON
ing overturned the force of the Persians, in greatness indeed of
dominion exceeded all the kingdoms which were before it : but
yet it did nut flourish a long time, but after t lie death of Alex-
ander it began to grow worse and worse. For being immedi-
ately distracted into several principalities by his successors, and
after them having strength to go on to the second or third ge-
neration, it was weakened by itself, and at last was destroyed
by the Romans. And yet it did not reduce all the earth and
sen to its obedience. For neither did it possess Africa, except
that part adjoining to Egypt; neither did it subdue all Europe,
but only northwards it proceeded as far as Thrace, and west-
wards it descended to the Adriatic sea. But the city of Rome
ru'eth over all the earth, as far as it is inhabited; and com-
mands all the sea, not only that within the pillars of Hercules,
but also the ocean, as far as it is navigable, having first, and
alone of all the most celebrated kingdoms, made the east and west
the bounds of its empire: and its dominion hath continued not
a short time, but longer than that of any other city or kingdom.
2. Another remarkable property of this beast is, (ver. 7,) that
"it had ten horns :" and according to the angel's interpretation,
(ver. 24,) " the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings (or,
kingdoms) that shall arise." "Four kings," a little before, (ver.
17,) signified four kingdoms: and so here "ten kings" are ten
kingdoms, according to the usual phraseology of Scripture. And
this is a farther argument, that the kingdoms of the Lagidae and
of the Seleucidae cannot possibly be the fourth kingdom, be-
cause they were never divided into so many parts. The Mace-
donian empire was divided a few years after the death of Alex-
ander into four kingdoms, whereof Egypt and Syria were two ;
but these two were never again subdivided into ten lesser king-
doms. Porphyry, therefore, who made two separate kingdoms
of the kingdom of Alexander and his successors, contrary to
the received interpretation of kings for kingdoms, reckons down
to Antiochus Epiphanes, whom he supposeth to be the " little
horn," ten kings who were most cruel : but these kings, as
Jerome 5 observes, were not all of one kingdom, of Macedonia
for instance, or Syria, or Asia, or Egypt ; but the list was made
up out of the different kingdoms.
Grotius 6 indeed, and Collins after him, form their catalogue
lotiuamaris est domina. Non solum ejus quod
est intra columnas Herculis sed et Oceani
quacunque navigari potestj primaque et sola
post hominum memoriam ortu et occasu fines
imperii sui terminavit : ejusque potentia non
ad exiguum tempus duravit, sed quantum
nutli alii vel reipublicm vel regno contigiU
Dionysius Halicarnass. Antiq. Rom. I. I. c.
2 el 3.
* — — 'Et deinde usque ad Antiochjm
cognomento Epiphanen, decern reges enu-
merat, qui fuerunt seevissimi : ipsosque reges
non unius ponit regni verbi gratia, Mace-
donioe, Syria?, Asicc, et JEgypli j sed de di-
versis regnis unum emcit regum ordinera.'
Hieron. Comment, in too.
6 Grotius in locum. Scheme of Literal
Prophecy, Sic. p. 162.
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ON THE PROPHECIES. 20&
of lh<! Ion kin'4~, wlio were very <'ppre--ive. and cruel to '.lift
Jews, nut of 1 1 hi kings of Fgvpi and Svria : and they ihus enu-
Di'M'nli! !li''n), live otll of oik: kiirjdo-ii, and live nut of tin; oilier,
Ptolemy lli" -on of IjMjjhi-:, Selcuru - Xiea'nr, l'loleniy Eupator,
[[ snppo-o they meant l'loleniy Philadelphia, for he reigned
nevi after I'lnlem v t ho son of Ea :rus, a nd ne\i hefore Pioieniy
Euer(i-"te-J, bring 1 1 10 son of the Cornier, and (Ik; fiilher of the
tatter, ] l'loleniy Eucrgeles, Seleucus Callinicus, Alitiocliiis the
(Ireiit, l'loleniy Philopalor, Pioieniy Epiphanes, Seleucus Phi-
lopalnr, and Antiorhus Epiphanes. But, it. happens, 1 1 lit I some
of lhe<e kind's did not. persecute (lit! Jews at nil, ns Seleucus
Callinicus. Others were so far from persecuting llietti, that
ihey were their patrons and protectors. Such were Ptolemy
the son of Lngus, Seleucus Nicalor, Ptolemy Philadelphia,
Ptolemv Euergetes, and Antioehus the Great: and such they
ore reckoned by Josephus 7 himself. So that out of the ten
kings only four were persecutors and oppressors of the Jews.
The ten horns too are represented as existing all at once ; they
shoot out and appear upon the head of the beast all together:
hut lhe-e kings were not all contemporaries, many of them were
sticee.^ive, and one fell before another rose. So forced and
arbitrary is this exposition, and so contrary to the truth o\
history.
We must therefore look for the fen kings or kingdoms, where
only they can be found, amid the broken pieces of the Roman
empire. The Roman empire, as the Romanists 8 themselves
allow, was by means of the incursions of the northern nations,
dismembered into ten kingdoms: and Machiave l, 9 little thinking
what he was doing, (as Bishop Chandler observes.) hath given
us their names: 1. the Ostrogoths in Mresia, 2. the Visigoths in
Pannonia, 3. the Sueves and Alans in Gascoigne and Spain, 4.
the Vandals in Africa, 5. the Franks in France, G. the Burgun-
dians in Burgundy, 7. the Heruli and Turingi in Italy, 8. the
Saxons and Angles in Britain, 9. the Huns in Hungary, 10. the
Lombards at first upon the Danube, afterwards in Italy.
Mr, Mede, whom a certain writer 1 esteemed as a man di-
vinely inspired for the interpretation of the prophecies, 2 reckons
tip the ten kingdoms thus in the year 456, the year after Rome
was sacked by Genseric king of the Vandals: 1, the Britons,
2. the Saxons in Britain, 3. the Franks, 4. the Burgundians in
France, 5. the Wisigoths in the south of France and part of
Spain, 6. the Sueves and Alans in Gallicia and Portugal, 7. the
' Vide Anliq. 1. 12, c. 1—3. Contra Api-
on. 1. 2, 5 4 el 5.
I 8 Calin et upon Rev. xiii. 1 ; and he re-
fers likewise to Berangaud. Bossuet, and
DuPin.
* Machiavel Hist. Flor. 1. 1. Bishop
IS*
Chandler's Vindication, &c. b. 1, c. 2, § 3,
p. 263.
1 Mons. Jurieu, in the Preface to his Ac-
complishment of the Scripture Prophecies
a Mede's Works, b. 3, p. 661.
2 B
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210
BISHOP NEWTON
Vandals in Afiie, 8. (he Alemancs in Germany, 9. (lie Ostrogoths
whom the Longobards succeeded, in Pannonia, and afterward,?
in Italv, 10. the Greeks in the residue of (lie empire.
Thai excellent, chronologcr Bishop Lloyd exhibits the follow.
inc 3 list, of the ten kingdoms with the time of their rise: 1.
Huns about a. d. 356. 2. Ostrogoths 377. 3. Wisigoths 378.
-1. Franks 407. 5. Vandals 407. G. Sueves and Alans 407.
7. Burgundians 407. 8. Ilerules and Rugians 47G. 9. Saxons
-176. 10. Longobards began to reign in Hungary a. d. 526,
and were seated in the northern parts of Germany about the
year 483.
Sir Isaac Newton enumerates them tints: 4 1. the kingdom of
the Vandals and Alans in Spain and Africa, 2. 1 he kingdom of
the Suevians in Spain, 3. the kingdom of the Visigoths, 4. the
kingdom of the Alans in Gallia, 5. the kingdom of the Burgun-
dians, 6. the kingdom of the Franks, 7. the kingdom of the
Britons, 8. the kingdom of (he Huns, 9. the kingdom of the Lom-
bards, 10. the kingdom of Ravenna.
,Cs The few variations in these accounts must be ascribed to the
great disorder and confusion of the times, one kingdom falling,
and another rising, and scarce any subsisting for a long while
together. As a learned writer 5 remarks, ' all these kingdoms
| were variously divided either by conquest or inheritance. How-
; ever, as if that number of ten had been fatal in the Roman donii-
; nions, it hath been taken notice of upon particular occasions. As
about a. d. 1240, by Eberard, bishop of Saltsburg, in the diet at
■ liatishon. At the time of the Reformation they were also ten.
; So that the Roman empire was divided into ten in a manner, first
| .and last.' Mr. Winston, who published his essay on the Reve-
j lationof St. John in the year 1706, farther observes, 6 'that as the
| number of the kingdoms into which the Roman empire in Eu-
j rope, agreeably to the ancient prophecies, was originally divided
I a. d. 456, was exactly ten : so it is also very nearly returned again
j to the same condition; and at present is divided into ten grand
\or principal kingdoms or statcs.4^3Por though there are many
more great kingdoms and dominions in Europe besides, yet are
they out of the bounds of the old Roman empire, and so' not so
directly within our present inquiry.'
We would, for reasons which will hereafter appear to the at-
tentive reader, fix these ten kingdoms at a different era from
any of the foregoing; and let us see how they stood in the
eighth century. The principal states and governments then
were, 1. of the senate of Rome, who revolted from the Greek
emperors, and claimed and exerted the privilege of choosing a
* Addenda to Lowt'.i's Comment, p. 524. s Daubuz on Rev. xiii. 1, p. 559.
4 Sir Isaac Newton's Observ. on Daniel, 6 Essay on the Rev. Part 3, Vision 4,
*. 8, p. 47.
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ON" THE l'IMI'IlEClES.
211
new western emperor ; 2. of the Greeks in Ravenna; 3. of the
Lombards in Lonibardy ; 4. of the linns in limitary; 5. of the
Aleinanes in Germany ; 6. of the Franks in France; 7. of the
Burgundians in Burgundy ; 8. ot the Goths in Spain; 9. of the
Britons; 10. of the Saxons in Britain. Not (hat there were
constantly ten kingdoms ; they were sometimes more, and some-
times fewer: but as 7 Sir Isaac Newton says, 'whatever was
their number afterwards, they are still called the ten kln^s from
their first number.'
3. Besides these ten horns or kingdoms of the fourth em-
pire, there was to spring up among them another little horn.
"1 considered the horns, (saith Daniel, ver. 8.) and behold there
came up among them another little horn, before whom then;
were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots." Daniel
was eager to know, (ver. 20,) as "of ten horns," so likewise
"of the other which came up, and before whom three fell."
And he was informed by the angel, (ver. 24,) that as " the ten
horns out of this kingdom were ten kings (or kingdoms) that
should arise," so likewise that "another "shall rise "after them,
and ho shall subdue three kings," or kingdoms. One absurdity
generally produceth another: and 8 Grot ius, in consequence of
bis former supposition that the fourth kingdom was the king-
doms of the Seleucidaa and Lagidae, supposeth also, that the
"little horn" was Antiochus Epiphanes, and that "the three
horns which were plucked up before him" were his elder bro-
ther Seleucus, and Demetrius the son of Seleucus, and Ptole-
my Philopator king of Egypt : and Collins adopts the same
notion after Grotius, for Collins was only a retailer of scraps,
and could not advance any thing of this kind of his own. But
surely it is very arbitray to reckon Antiochus Epiphanes as
one of the ten horns, and at the same time as the little horn,
when the prophet hath plainly made (he little horn an eleventh
horn, distinct from the former ten. There were "three of the
first horns" to be plucked up by the roots before the little horn ;
but the three kings mentioned by Grotius are not all in his first
catalogue of ten kings, neither Ptolemy Philometor (if Philo-
metor be meant) nor Demetrius being of the number. Neither
were they " plucked up by the roots" by Antiochus, or by his
order. Seleucus was 3 poisoned by his treasurer Heliodorus,
whose aim it was to usurp the crown to himself, before Antio-
chus returned from Rome, where he had been detained a hos-
tage several years. Demetrius 1 lived to dethrone and murder
the son of Antiochus, and succeeded him in the kingdom of
Syria. Ptolemy Philopator died king of Egypt almost thirty
' Sir Isaac Newton's Observations on 9 Appian. in Svriac. § 45.
Daniel, c. 6, p. 73. i Appian. ibid. "§ 47. Justin. I. 34. c. 3
■ Grotius and Collins, ibid. Joseph. Antiq. 1.12, c. 10, § 1.
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212
BISHOP NEWTON
years I> f-'iv Ainiochus rami; to (lie (hrone ofSyiia : 9 or if Plo
1 1 - 1 1 1 \ i'iii'miiiiiiir (as is most probable) was meant by Grolius,
Phil though he suffered nnicli in his wars wiili Anlio-
ili.;., survived liim ' about eighteen years, ami died in pos-
; 1,1 oi the crov.nof r,»yp(, after lite family of Ani ioclius
h; M | :.. i'n pet aside from lie- succession lo llic crown of Syria.
Neither d.)i h Am ioch us Kpiphanes answer lo llic character of
lite iin!e horn in oilier respects, and particularly in this. The
hide horn continues (ver. 21, '22, 26,) to reign tiil the second
mining of Christ in glory ; hot Anlioehus Epiphancs died about
1 C-J years before his lust coming in (he flesh. These are all
fan her arguments to prove, that the fourth beast, must needs
signify (hi! Roman empire, and that " the ten horns" represent
the ten kingdoms into which that empire was divided, and there-
fore we must look for the " little horn" among (hem, and no-
where else : and that we may not. be led away by modern pre-
judices, let us see whether the ancients will not alford us some
light and direction.
Irenams, a father who flourished in the second century, treat-
in"; of the fraud, pride, and tyranny of Antichrist, asserts that
1 Daniel, respecting the end 'of the last kingdom, that is, the
last ten kin us, anions whom that kingdom should be divided,
upon w hom the son of perdition shall come, sail h that ten horns
shall grow on the beast, and another little horn shall grow up
among them, and three of the first horns shall be rooted out
before him. Of w hom also Paul the apostle speakcth in his
second epistle to the Thessaionians, calling him "the son of
perdition," and "the wicked one." St. John, our Lord's dis-
ciple, hath in the Apocalypse still more plainly signified of the
last time, and of these ten kings, among whom the empire that
now reigneth shall be divided, explaining what the ten horns
shall he, which were seen by Daniel.'
St. Cyril of Jerusalem, who flourished about the middle of
the fourth century, speaking of Antichrist's coining in the lat-
ter times of the Roman empire, 5 saith, ' We teach these things
5 Pu.lemy Philopator died Anno 20 1, An-
liorhu* became kiri^' Anno l7o before Christ.
See Usher, Prideaux, &c.
3 Anii'jctius K jiipliuiies died Anno 164,
Ptoh-mv Philometor Anno 146 before Christ.
See J.'sher. Prid. &c.
* 1 Daniel autern novissimi rermi fmcm re-
spicien«, id esr, novissim >s decern rcges, in
quos divuieretur regnum illorum, super quos
filius perdilionis veniel, coruua dicit decern
nasci beslia? : ei alterum comu pusillum
nasc : in medio ipsorum, et tria cornua de-
yrioribus eradieare a facie ejus — I)e ipio et
apostolus Paulus in secunda ad Ttiessaloni-
eenses, &c. Manifeslius adhuc eliamde no-
vissimo tempore, et de his qui sunt in eo
decern rc.fibus, in quos dividetur quod nunc
regnat imperium, signiheavit Joannes Do-
mini disoipuius in Apocalypsi, edesserens
qua) fucrint decern cornua, qua? a Daniele
visa sunt, &c.' Iren. 1. 5, c. 25, 26.
* TaiTd hi Ai6ti<jnt>fjcv } ovk i'upctiiSoyoVvrts,
&XX' ik rwv Srfmv iKKXriaiatyitfviavypatp&Vt Kal
fidXtUTa tK Tfjs (i/jTiw? aiayvwaOuaqs tov Aa-
vii)\ rpotprjTiia; iilptiQriK6Tl<? KaQSiSKal VuffpihX
b up^oy/rAo? iopijvtvat Xiytav ov~ui' ToSypiov
t6 riraprov, (JuciXlIu TcTaprr] carat iv rfi ypi
tjrif V7rrp/^E[ xfitras Trij flutriXtiaf Taurrjv &l
livtii tw 'Vuuatuv oUKK\r,inacTiKoi vapabtiur
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
213
not of our own invention, but having learned them out of the
divine Scriptures, and especially out of the prophecy of Daniel
which was just now read ; even as («;ihrirl (lie archangel inter-
preted, saving thus: the fourth bras! shall ha the, fourth kingdom
vpon earth, which shall exceed alt the kingdoms : but that this is t lie
empire of the Roman?, ecclesiastical interpreters have delivered.
For the first that was made famous, was the kingdom of the
As-vrinns ; and the second, was that of (he Medes and Persians
together ; and after these the third, was that of the Macedo-
nians; and (lie fourth kingdom is now that of the Unmans.
Afterwards, Gabriel interpreting, saith : Its ten horns are ten kings
thai shall arise ; and after them shall arise another king, who shall
exceed in wickedness all before him ; not only the ten he saith, but
also all who were before him. And lie shall depress three kings ;
but it is manifest that of t the first ten he shall depress three, that
he himself may reign the eighth : and be shall speak words,
saith he, against the Most High.'
St. Jerome having refuted Porphyry's notion of Antioclius
Epiphanes being the little horn, (where by the way the passage
appears to want much emendation,) 6 concludes thus : ' There-
fore let us say what all ecclesiastical writers have delivered, that
in the latter days, when the empire of the Romans shall be de-
stroyed, there will be ten kings, who shall divide it between
them, and an eleventh shall arise, a little king, who shall sub-
due three of the ten kings, and the other seven shall submit their
necks to the conqueror.' T heod oret speaketh much to the same
purpose in bis comment upon DarileT : and 7 St. Austin expressly.
Kncivtfyjyriral. TtatoTrjc yao urifr'jftnv ytvapi-
vrj\. rf/f 'AffrrupfoJi' (yaciXttas' Kai ^Evrtaus, rijc
^Ir'jdtOP bflOO Kill TlcpCittV Kilt fX£T(l TOVTaS,
M'lVEi'dinJi 1 ) TptTTjc;' r, TZTfiQTY} $atrt\da vvv ij
'Put^i/ihov ttrrif. ETra f£ff? h TaGnitiX louevevtav
^jjffi" T« 6tKa Ktpnra auroT; 6fKa fiaJtXuf
avacTi'janvraC Kcit Zniaia (IVTWV avatrrtjacTai
fiafftXtvs crcpo?, 05 vrtpotczt k/ikois travrttf rouf
iiirrooaOiv' ou p6vov <P*}(tl Toiig Ct*>i, a\\a Kai
ir«i*Tit5 ToS? T7paycyov6ra$. Kai rpcti fiactXuc
Tti~£tVti>VEt, ArjXov Kai [t5r] ax<l tujv SfKa r<2j/
irpoTfp&v, and rwv fit tea roirwv roi'i rpetS ra-
netvwr, ir&VTtas on ahrbi oySooi {$ntft\eit<rit' Kai
\6yov$, (pqiri, fff^S t&v v^iarov XaXr/trct. Hmo
ttutem tl*Kemu* t nan coniminiscenles, sed e
g'-.ripturix divinis colligentes, et ex ea maxime,
tp/tr ntipcr leeta est, ex Daniele propheta edoc-
ti ; si-'ut GahHel Archangelus interpretatas
est, dirt ns sic ; 1 Quarta bestict, quartum est
resrrnt m in terra, quod tnajus erit aliis omni-
bus returns T hoc autcm esse Romanorum, ec-
clesiastici intvrpretes tradiderunt. Primum
mini erat regnum Assyriarum : altemm Me-
dorurn snnul et Persarum : tertium postea
Macedonian : quartum est nunc regnum Ro-
manorum. Deincips vere Gabriel inlerpre-
tana dint : 1 Decern cormta ipsivs, decern reg-
na consurgent : post ista alter consurgct. qui
omnes ante se malis vincet neque solum Mas
drcem reges, sed. nmnes qui ante se fuerunt.
* Et tres reges deprimet.' Man iff stum autem
est, quod ex istis decern tres opprimet, prorsus
et ipacmct actavus rennet: et verba faritt
contra Altissimum. Cyrilli Hieros. Catech.
lo, c. 6.
6 ' Er^o dicamns quocl omncs pcriptnrps
ecclesiaslici tradiderunt : in consummatione
mundi, quando regnum destruendum est
Romanoruni, decern futuros reges, qui or-
bem Romanum inter sedividant : ct imde-
cimum surrecturum esse regem parvulum,
qui tres resres de decern regibus supt-ra-
turus sit.— Quibus interfi-ctis, etiam s*'ptcui
alii reges victon colia submittent.' Hierou.
Comment, in lor.
* 'Quatuor ilia refrna exposnenmt qni-
dam Assvriorum, Peisarum, Mricednnmn,
et Romanorum. Qnam vcro convenicnicr
id fecerinl, qui nosce desiderant, leniint
presbj'teri Hieronymi libnim in Daniclrni,
satis diligent pr eruditeque conscript um.*
Aug. de Civ. Dei. 1. 10, c 23.
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IHtfUOP NEWTON
approveth of Jerome's interpretation. 'Those four kingdoms,'
suith lie, ' some have expounded to be the Assyrian, Persian,
Macedonian, and Roman. How properly they have done that,
those who are desirous of knowing, may read I lie presbyter Je-
rome's hook upon Daniel, which is very accurately and learnedly
written.'
The fathers, it appears by these instances, conceived thai the
fourth empire was the Unman, that the Roman empire was !o he
divided between ten kings, and thai among them would arise
Antichrist, who should root up ihree of the ten kings, and do-
mineer over the other seven. Al the same time il musl he con-
fessed, that these same fathers entertained strange wild notions
concerning this Antichrist, 8 that, he should be a Jew, that he
should descend from ihe tribe of Dan, that, he should come from
Babylon, that he should fix his residence in ihe temple at Jeru-
salem, that he should first subdue Egcpt, and afterwaids Lybia
and Ethiopia, which were the three horns that, should fall before
him. But it is no wonder that the fathers, nor indeed that any
one should mistake in particularly applying prophecies, which
had not then received their completion. The fathers might un-
derstand the prophecies so far as they were fulfilled, and might
say with certainty which were the four great kingdoms of the
world, that the fourth was the Roman, and that the Roman
would be divided in the same manner that Daniel had forelold.
So far was plain and obvious, and so far they might proceed with
safety : but when they ventured farther, and would define parti-
cularly who were the ten kings, and who was Antichrist, and
who were the three kings thai should fall before him, then they
plunged out. of their depth, and were lost in the abyss of error.
Such prophecies can be explained only by the events, and these
events were yet in the womb of time. Some other mistaken
prophecies might, lead the fathers into this interpretation. There
is not the least foundation for it in this prophecy. On the con-
trary this prophecy might have instructed them better, and have
taught them that as the western empire was to be divided into
ten kingdoms, so the little horn should arise among them, and
subdue three of them : and consequently the little horn could
not arise in the east, he could not be a Jew, he could not. come
from Babylon, and neither could Egypt, Lybia, and Ethiopia be
the three kingdoms which should Ml before him.
Ireiwi, 1. 5, c. 25 et 30. Cyrilli Hieros.
Catocii. 15, c. 7. 'Tres reges de decern
re^ibus superaturus sit, id est, iEwyptiorum
regem, et Africa: ct -^Ethiopia:.' Hieroii.
Comment, in toe. 'Nascihirus est de po-
pulo Jud;eoriim, et de Babvlone ventilrus,
primum superaturus est rtsg«m -fEgypti, &c.
et postea Libyas et iEthinpas superaturus,
qure de decern comibus iria comma cornua
supra legimus.' Idem in c. 11. * Cum Ja-
cob blios suos benediceret, talia dixit de isto
Dan, ut de ipsa Iribu existimetur exsurrec-
turus Anticbristus.' Auguslin. Quaestiones
in Jos. 1. 6. Qua;st. 22.
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
215
Antichrist then, (as the fathers delight to call him,) or the
little horn, is in In: sought amont; I In: ten kingdoms of 1 1 1 o west-
ern Roman empire,. I say of (lie western Roman empire, because
thai was properlv the body of the. fourih beast; Greece anil the.
Countries which lay eastward of Italy belonged to (lie third
beast ; for the former beasts were .still subsisting, though their
dominion was taken away. "As concerning the rest of the
Leasts, (saitli Daniel, ver. 12,) they had their dominion taken
away ; yet [heir lives were prolonged for a season and a lime."
'And therefore,' as Sir Isaac Newton 9 rightly ii dels, 'all (he
four beasts are slill alive, though the dominion of the three first
be taken away. The nations of Chaldaja and Assyria are still
the first beast. * Those of Media and Persia are still the second
beast. Those of Macedon, Greece, and Thrace, Asia Minor,
Syria, and Egypt, are still the third. And those of Europe, on
this side Greece, are still the fourth. Seeing therefore the body
of the third beast, is confined to the nations on this side the river
Euphrates, and the body of the fourth beast is confined to the
nations on this side Greece; we are to look for all the four heads
of the third beast, among the nations on this side the river Eu-
phrates; and for all the eleven horns of the fourth beast, among
the nations on this side of Greece. And therefore, at the break-
ing of the Greek empire into four kingdoms of the Greeks, we
include no part of the Chaldacans, Medes and Persians, in those
kingdoms, because they belonged to the bodies of the two first
beasts. Nor do we reckon the Greek empire seated at Constanti-
nople, among the horns of the fourth beast, because it belonged
to the body of the third.' For the same reason, neither can the
Saracen or the Turk be the little horn or Antichrist, as some have
imagined them to be ; and neither do they come up to the cha-
racter in other respects.
Let us therefore look for the little horn, as the prophecy it-
self directs us, among the other ten horns of the western Roman
empire. If indeed it be true, as the Romanists pretend, that this
part of the prophecy is not yet fulfilled, and that Antichrist will
come only for a little time before the general judgment, it would
be in vain to inquire who or what he is ; we should split upon
the same rock as the fathers have done ; it would better become
us to say with ' Qalm et, that ' as the reign of Antichrist is still
remote, we cannot show the accomplishment of the prophecies
with regard to him; we ought to content ourselves with con-
sidering the past, and comparing it with the words of the pro-
phet, the past is an assurance of the future.' But perhaps upon
s Sir I*utte Newton's Obscrv. on Daniel,
c. 4, p. 31, 3J.
1 'Coiunie 1c rcjrne de l'Antichrist est
encore ekuiim 1 , on tie pent pas montrer l'ac-
complissement tie prupheties son egard.
On doit se contenter de considererle tiasse,
et de le comparer avec les paroles dti pro-
phete. Le passe est tine assurance de ce
qui doit arriver un jour.' Calnict. in locum.
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BISHOP NEWTOIV
examination we shall sec reason to conclude with the generality
of the Protestants, that this part of the prophecy is fulfilled.
We have seen already that the Roman empire was divided into
ten horns or kingdoms, and among them possihly we may find
another little horn or kingdom answering in all respects to the
character here given. Machiavel himself will lead us by the
hand ; for having shown how the Roman empire was broken
and divided by the incursions of (he northern nations, he says, '
'About this time the bishops of Rome began to take upon litem,
and to exercise, greater authority than they had formerly done.
At first the successors of St. Peter were venerable and eminent
for their miracles, and the holiness of their lives ; and their exam-
ples added daily such numbers to the Christian church, that W
obviate or remove the confusions which were then in the world,
many princes turned Christians, and the emperor of Rome being;
converted among the rest, and quitting Rome, to hold his resi-
dence at Constantinople ; the Roman empire (as we have said
before) began to decline, but the church of Rome augmented as
fast.' And so he proceeds to give an account how the Roman
empire declined, and the power of the church of Rome increased,
first, under the Goths, then under the Lombards, and afterwards
by the calling in of the Franks.
Here then is a little horn springing up among the other ten
horns. The bishop of Rome was respectable as a bishop long
before, but he did not become a horn properly, (which is an
-emblem of strength and power,) till he became a temporal
prince. He was to "rise after" the other, that is, behind them,
as the Greek translates it, i-i™ airdv, and as Mr. Made , explains
|t, 3 so that the ten kings were not aware of the growing up
of the Utile horn, till it overtopped them ; the worA in the ori-
ginal signifying as well behind in place, as after in time ; as
also ' post.' in Latin is used indifferently either of place or time.
" Three of the first horns," that is, three of ihfl first kings or
kingdoms, were to be "plucked up by the roofs," and to "fall
before him." And these three, according to Mr. Mode, ' were
those whose dominions extended into Italy, and so stood in
his light ; first, that of the Greeks, whoso emooror Leo Isaurus,
for the quarrel of image-worship, he excommunicated, and
made his subjects of Italy revolt from their allegiance : se-
condly, that of the Longobards, (successor to the Ostrogoths,)
whose kingdom he caused by the aid of the Franks to be
wholly ruined and extirpated, thereby to get the exarchate of
Ravenna, (which since the revolt from the Greeks the Longo-
bards were seized on,) for a patrimony to St. Peter: thirdly,
'he last was the kingdom of the Franks itself, continued in the
2 Machiavd's Hist, of Florence, b. 1, p. 6, of the English translation.
' Mile's Workt, !». 4 c.j»is». 24, [>. 778, &c.
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
217
empire of Germany ; whose emperors from the clays of Henry
the Fourth he excommunicated, deposed and trampled under
his feet, and never suffered to live in rest, till he made them
not only to quit their interest in the election of popes and in-
vestitures of bishops, hut that remainder also of jurisdiction ia
Italy, wherewith together wilh the Roman name lie had once
infeolfed their predecessors. These were the kings by displacing
or (as the Vulgar hath it) humbling of whom the pope got elbow-
room by degrees, and advanced himself to that height of tem-
poral majesty and absolute greatness, which made him so terrible
in the world.'
Sir Isaac Newton reckons them tip with some variation.
'Kings,' 4 saith he, 'are put for kingdoms, as above ; and there-
lore the little horn is a little kingdom. It was a horn of the fourth
beast, and rooted up three of his first horns ; and therefore we
are to look for it among the nations of the Latin empire, after
the rise of the ten horns. In the eighth century, by rooting
up and subduing the exarchate of Ravenna, the kingdom of the
Lombards, and the senate and dukedom of Rome, he acquired
Peter's patrimony out of their dominions : and thereby rose up
as a temporal prince or king, or horn of the fourth beast.' Again,
' It was certainly by the victory of the see of Rome over the
Greek emperor, the king of Lombardy, and the senate of
Rome, that she acquired Peter's patrimony, and rose up to her
grea'ness.'
Jn both these schemes there is something to he approved,
and something perhaps to be disapproved. In Mr. Mede's
plan it is to be approved, that the three kingdoms which he
proposeth, are mentioned in his first table of the ten king-
doms ; but then it may be questioned whether the kingdom
of the Franks or Germans in Italy can be said properly to have
been "plucked up by the roots" through the power or policy of
the popes. There were indeed long struggles and contests
hetween the popes and emperors ; but did the pope ever so
totally prevail over the emperors, as to extirpate and eradicate
them out of Italy, (for so the original word signifies,) 5 and to
seize ancTaimex their dominions to his own 1 If all history
answers in the affirmative, as it hath been said, it would be
easy to point out the time or times. But for my part, I recol-
lect no period when the pope dispossessed the emperor of all
his Italian dominions, and united them to the estates of the
church, and enjoyed them as such for any time. The emperor
possesseth dominions in Italy to this day. In Sir Isaac Newton's
plan it is to be approved, that the three kingdoms which he
proposeth, were " plucked up by the roots," were totally sub-
4 Sir Isaac Newton's Observ. on Daniel, chap. 7, p. 74, et 75, et 7G
& ipU £vellere, exstirpare, eradicare. Buxton.
19 2C
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BISHOP NEWTON
clued by flu; popes, and possessed as parts of Peter's pain
moil V : ''ii 1 •lien >L " ul y ue objected, lliat only two of the three
are men'ioned in bis first catalogue of tbe ten kingdoms, the
senate and dukedom of Rome being not included in the num-
ber. There were not only three horns to be plucked up be lore
tbe lillle hum, but " three of the first horns." We have there-
fore exhibited a catalogue of tbe (en kingdoms, as they stood in
tbu eighth century ; and- therein, are comprehended tbe three
siaies or kingdoms, which constituted tbe pope's dominions, and
which we conceive to be the same as Sir Isaac Newton did, the"
exarchate of Ravenna, the kingdom of the Lombards, and the
slate of Rome.
First, tbe exarchate of Ravenna, which of right belonged to
tbe Greek emperors, and which was the capital of their domi-
nions in Italy, having revolted at the instigation of the pope,
was unjustly seized by Aistulphus king of tbe Lombards, 6 who
thereupon thought of making himself master of Italy. The
pope in this exigency applied for help to Pipin king of France,
who marched into Italy, besieged the Lombards in Pavia, and
forced them to surrender the exarchate and other territories,
which were not restored to the Greek emperor, as in justice
they ought to have been, but at the solicitation of tbe pope
were given to St. Peter and his successors for a perpetual suc-
cession. Pope Zachary had acknowledged Pipin, usurper of
the crown of Fiance, as lawful sovereign ; and now Pipin in
his turn bestowed a principality, which was another's properly,
upon Pope Stephen II. the successor of Zachary. 4 And so,'
as Platina says, 7 ; the name of the exarchate, which had con-
tinued from the time of Nurses to the taking of Ravenna by
Aistulphus an hundred and seventy years, was extinguished.'
This was affected in the yeait755 J according to Sigonius. And
henceforward the popes, being^ now become temporal princes, did
no longer date their epistles and bulls by the years of the em-
peror's reign, but by tbe years of their own advancement to the
lapal chair.
Secondly, the kingdom of the Lombards was often trouble-
some to the popes : and now again 8 king Desiderius invaded
the territories of Pope Adrian I. So that the pope was obliged
to have recourse again to the king of France, and earnestly in-
vited Charles the Great, the son and successor of Pipin, to come
• Siinmius tie rc^nn Tta!. I. 3, ann. 753 —
755. Abreu Ciironologique par Mezeray,
Pepin, Rev 22. Plaiina's Lives of the Popes,
tianslal' fl ami continued bv Sir Paul Rv-
cn ill, in Sit'pht'ii II. Sir Isaac Newton's
Ohsei\a:i'ins on Daniel, chap. 7. Vollairo
of the origin of the poujer of the popes, in the
first part of his General History of Europe.
* Platina, ibid. p. 140.
" Sigotnus de regno Ital. 1. 3, ann 772 —
774. Platina in Adrian I. Abrege Chro-
nologiijue pat Mezeray, Cbarleu.agiie, Roy
23, ann. 772 — 774. Sir Isaac Newtons
Observations on Daniel, chap. 7, p. 80.
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
219
:.nto Italy to his assistance. He came accordingly with a great
army, being ambitious also himscll 'of enlarging his dominions in
Italy, ami conquered the Lombards, and put, an end to their
kingdom, and gave great purl of their dominions to the pope. He
not. only confirmed the former donations of his lather Pipin, but.
also made an addit ion of other countries to (hem, as Corsica, Sar-
dinia, Sicily, the Sabine territory, the whole trad beiweeu Lucca
and Parma, and that part of Tuscany which belonged to (lie
Lombards: and the tables of these donations he signed himself,
anil caused them to be signed by the bishops, abbots, and oilier
great men then present, and laid them so signed upon Ihe altar
of St. Peier. And this 9 was the end of the kingdom of the Lom-
bards, in the 200lh year after their possessing Italy, and in the
year of Christ 774.
Thirdly, the stale of Rome, though subject to the popes in
things spiritual, was yet in things temporal governed bv the
senate and people, who after their defection from the eastern
emperors, still retained many of their old privileges, and elected
both the western emperor and the popes. Alter 1 Charles the
Great had overthrown the kingdom of the Lombards, he came
again to Rome, and was there, by the pope, bishops, abbots, and
people of Rome, chosen Roman patrician, which is the degree
of honour and power next to the emperor. He then settled the
affair* of Italy, and permitted the pope to hold under him the
duchy of Rome, with other territories : but alter a few years, the
5 Romans, desirous to recover their liberty, conspired against
Pope Leo III. accused him of many great crimes, aud impri-
soned him. His accusers were heard on a day appointed, before
Charles and a council of French and Italian bishops : but the
pope, without pleading his own cause or making any defence,
was acquitted, his accusers were slain or banished, and he him-
self was declared superior to all human judicature. And thus
the foundation was laid for the absolute authority of the pope
ovdr the Romans, which was completed by degrees ; and Charles
in return was chosen emperor of the west. However, 3 after the
death of Charles the Great, the Romans again conspired against
the pope ; but Lewis the Pious, the son and successor of Charles,
acquitted him again. In the mean while Leo was dangerously
ill: which as soon as the Romans his enemies perceived, they
rose again, burnt and plundered his villas, and thence marched
to Rome to recover what things they complained were taken
9 ' Atque hie qttidem finis regni Longfobar-
dorum in Italia fuit, anno postquam Italiam
occupaverant, ducentesimo sexlo, Chrisli
vero septiiioeiitesimo septuagesimo quarto.'
Sigonius in tint' libri lertii.
1 Siiionins lie regno Ital. 1. 4, Ann. 774.
Mezeray, ibid.
* Sigonius, ibid. Ann. 7D8-P01. Pla-
tina in Leo III. Mezeray, ibid. Ann. 799,
&c. Sir Isaac Newton, ibid. Voltaire of
the mical of the empire of the. tec-/, in the
first part of his Gor.eral History of Europe,
3 Sigonius, ibid. Anno S14, Slj.
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EISIIOP NEWTON
from litem by foive ; but they were repressed by pome of (be
emperor's troops. The s;une 4 emperor, Lewis (lie Pious, at the
request of Pope Paschal, confirmed llic donations which his
father and grandfal her had made to the sec of Rome. Sigonius
has recited the confirmation ; and therein are mentioned Rome
and its duel)}', containing part of Tuscany and Campania, Ra-
venna, with the exarchate and Pentapolis, and the other part of
Tuscany and the countries taken from (he Lombards: and all
these are granted to (he pope and his successors to the end of
the world, ' ut in suo defineant jure, principatu, atque ditione,'
ilia! they should hold them in their own right, principality, and do-
minion. These, as we conceive, were the three horns, " three of
the first horns," which fell before the little horn : and the pope
hath in a maimer pointed himself out for the person by wearing
the triple crown.
4. In other respects too (lie pope fully answers flic character
of the little horn ; so that if exquisite fitness of application may
assure us of the true sense of (he prophecy, we can no longer
doubt concerning the person. He is a little horn : and the power
of the popes was originally very small, and their temporal do-
minions were little and inconsiderable in comparison with others
of the ten bonis. "He shall be divers from the first," (ver.
24.) The Greek and Arabic translate it, that 5 he shall exceed
in wickedness all before him; and so most of the fathers, who
made use only of the Greek translation, understood it; hut it
rather signifies that his kingdom shall be of a different nature
and constitution: And the power of the pope diflers greatly
from that of all other princes, being an ecclesiastical and spi-
ritual, as well as a civil and temporal authority. "And be-
hold in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man," (ver. 8.)
To denote his cunning and foresight, his looking out and watch-
ing all opportunities to promote his own interests: And the po-
licy of the Roman hierachy hath almost passed into a proverb;
the pope is properly an overlooker or overseer, nrf<™o«s or bishop,
in the literal sense of the word. " He had a mouth speaking
very great, things," (ver. 3, 20.) And who hath been more noisy
and blustering than the pope, especially in former ages, boast-
ing of his supremacy, thundering out his bulls and anathemas,
excommunicating princes, and absolving subjects from their
allegiance? "His look was more stout than his fellows,"
(ver. 20.) And the pope assumes a superiority not only over his
fellow bishops, but even over crowned heads, and requires his
foot to be kissed, and greater honours to be paid to him than
to kings and emperors themselves. — "And he shall speak great
* Si«onins, ibirl. Ann. 817. Sir Isaac s "0( 6*£f>0HT£l KMoif jra'vTaf tovs cprpoirfoii.
Newton : s Observalions on Daniel, c. 7, p. Gr. "Qui inalis oinnes prir.dccessorcs suos
tiipcrabit." Arab.
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ON THE PROPHECIES. 221
words against tlio Musi. Hi^h," (wr. 2~>.) or ns 8 Symmachus
iiilt-i pici., il, lie shall speak great wurds a-: /.'».•; . Must High.; selling
lip hu.M'if above all laws divine ami human, ;n nivalin!? to him-
self •;.! Hike attributes and lilies of /i///, ; ..< and infallibility, cx-
at'iinu' obedience to his ordinances and derives, in preference
Ik, and opi-ii violation of reason and Scripture, insulting men,
and blaspheming God. In Gratian's decretals tin; pope hath
llie lille of Cod given to him. — "And he shall wear out. (he
saiiiis of I ho Most High;" by wars, and massacres, and inquisi-
tions, persecuting and destroying the faithful servants of Jesus,
and the true worshippers, of God, who protest against his inno-
vations, and refuse to comply with the idolatry practised in the
church of Rome. — '-'And he shall think to change times and
laws:" appointing fasts and feasts, canonizing saints, granting
pardons and indulgences for sins, instituting new modes, of
worship, imposing new articles of faith, enjoining new rules of
practice, and reversing at pleasure the laws both of God and
men. — "And they shall be given into his hand, until a time,
and times, and the dividing of time." "A time," all agree, sig-
nifies a year ; and " a time, and times, and the dividing of time,"
or htt'j a time, are three years and a half. So long and no longer,
as i he Romanists conceive, the power of Antichrist will con-
tinue; but it is impossible for all the things which are pre-
dicted of Antichrist to be fulfilled in so short a space of time;
and neither is Antichrist or the little horn a single man, but a
kingdom. Single men are not the subjects of this prophecy,
but kingdoms. The four kings, (ver. 17,) are not four single
kings, but kingdoms; and so the ten horns or kings, (ver. 24,)
are not ten single kings, but kingdoms; and so likewise the
Utile hom is not a single king, but a kingdom, not a single man,
but a succession of men, exercising such powers, and perform-
ing such actions as are here described. We must therefore
compute the time according to the nature and genius of the
prophetic language. A time, then, and limes, and half a time, are
three years and a half : and the ancient Jewish year consisting
of twelve months, and each month of thirty days, a time, and
times, and half a time, or three years and a half, are reckoned in
the Revelation, (xi. 2, 3 ; xii. 6, 14,) as equivalent to " forty and
two months," or " a thousand two hundred and threescore days ;"
and a day in the style of the prophets is a year; "I have ap-
pointed thee each day for a year," saith God to Ezekiel, (iv.
6 ;) and it is confessed, that the seventy weeks in the ninth chap-
ter of Daniel are weeks of years; and consequently 1260 days
are 1260 years. So long Antichrist or the little horn will con-
tinue: but from what point of lime the commencement of these
* 'Sive ut interpretatus est Symmachus : sermones quasi Deus loquttur? Hieron. Com-
ment, in loc.
19*
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BISHOP NEWTON
1260 years i< in he dated, is not. so easy to determine. It should
seem thai thrvare to he compulrd from 1 1 10 full establishment of
the power of the pope, and no less is implied in ihe expression
" "/i\< n inio his luutd." Now (lie power of the pope, as a horn
or temporal prince, i(. hath hcen shown, was established in I he
eighth century: and 1260 years from thai time will lead ns down
to about the year of Christ 2000, or about Hie GOOOlli year of the
world: and ihere is an 'old t nidi (ion both among Jews and
Christians, t hat. at the end of six thousand years the Messiah shall
route, and the world shall he renewed, the reign of the wicked
one. shall cease, and the reign of the saints upon earth shall begin.
Hut as 8 I returns sailh in a like case, it is surer and safer to wait
for th.e completion of (lie prophecy, than to conjecture and to di-
vine about, it. When the end shall come, then we shall know
better whence to dale the beginning.
V. All these kingdoms will be succeeded bv the kingdom or
the Messiah. "I beheld, (saith Daniel, ver." 9, 10,) till the
thrones were cast, down, (or rather 9 till the thrones were set,) and
the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow,
and the hair of his head like the pure wool ; his throne was like
the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream
issued and came forth from before him ; thousand thousands mi-
nistered unto him: and ten thousand times ten thousand stood
before him: the judgment was set, (or the judges did sit,) and
the books were opened." These metaphors and figures are bor-
rowed from the solemnities of earthly judicatories, and particularly
of the great Sanhedrim of the Jews, where the father of the con-
sistory sat, with his assessors seated on each side of him in the
form of a semicircle, and the people standing before him : and
from this description again was borrowed the description of the
day of judgment in the New Testament.
" I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which
the horn spake ; I beheld, even till the beast was slain, and his
body destroyed, and given to the burning flame," (ver. 11.) The
beast will be destroyed, "because of the great words which the
horn spake," and the destruction of the beast will also be the
destruction of the horn; and consequently the horn is a part of
the fourth beast, or of the Roman empire. " As concerning the
rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their
lives were prolonged for a season and time," (ver. 12.) When the
dominion was taken away from the other beasts, their bodiea
* S. Barnat)*p Eptst. c. 15, eumnotisCo-
telerii. Burnet's Theory, b. 3, c. 5.
8 1 A.fT^>a\fdrco<yv orv xui aKivkvvftrcoov, rd
Tttoi\iivziv Titv exflavtv rrjs jrpo^rcfas, 3 rd
tiu* ergo tt sinr. prriculo erf, suMiyiere ail im-
pltfionem prophetirBj quam suxpicari ct tn'ti-
nare. Iren. 1. 5, c. 30.
9 " Donee throni posita sunt." Vulg. *Ecif
orov ol dpfooi ertSritrav. |Sept. ""Videbam
suhsellia posita esse." Syr. " Sedes posita
fnerunt." Arab. And the same word is used
in the Chaldee paraphrase of Jer. i. 15, they
shall set every one his throne.
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223
wore not il< slroyed, they wen: sullered to continue slill in being:
hut when the dominion shall l»<: 1 ;s kt-ii ;i\v;iv from this beast, his
boilv .-ball totally bo destroyed; because other kingdoms suc-
ceeded to those, but none other earthly kingdom shall succeed
to this.
" I saw in the night-visions, and behold, one like (lie Son of
man, came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient
of days, and they brought him near before him," (ver. I:J.) How
strange and forced, how absurd and unworthy of Grotias is it
to apply this to the Romans, which hath always been, and can
only he properly understood of the Messiah'? From hence the
Sou of viaa came to be a 1 known phrase for the Messiah among
the Jews. From hence it. was taken and used so frequently in
(ho (J os pels : and our Saviour intimates himself to be this very
Son of Man, in saying, (Matt. xxvi. 04, 65,) " Hereafter shall ye
see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and
coming in the clouds of heaven ;" and thereupon he was charged
by the high priest with having "spoken blasphemy."
"And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a king-
dom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him:
his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass
.away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed,"
(ver. 11.) All these kingdoms shall in their turns be destroyed,
but the kingdom of the Messiah shall stand for ever : and it was
jr allusion to this prophecy, that the angel said of Jesus before
ho was conceived in the womb, (Luke i. 33,) " He shall reign
over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall
be no end."
After what manner these great changes will be effected, we
cannot pretend to say, as God bath not been pleased to reveal
it. We sec the remains of the ten horns, which arose out of the
Roman Empire. We see the little horn still subsisting, though
not in full strength and vigour, but as we hope upon the decline,
and tending towards a dissolution. And having seen so many
of these particulars accomplished, we can have no reason to doubt
that the rest also will be fulfilled in due season, though we cannot
frame any conception how Christ will be manifested in gloty,
how the little horn with the body of the fourth beast will be given
to the burning flame, or how the saints will take the kingdom,
and possess it for ever and ever. It is the nature of such pro-
phecies not to be perfectly understood, till they are fulfilled. The
best comment upon them will be their completion.
It may yet add some farther light to these prophecies, if we
compare this and the former together; for comparing Scripture
with Suipture is the best way to understand both the one and
1 See Jewish authors cited even by Grotius and Bp. Chandler in his Defence of Chris*
tianity, c. 2, § 1, p. 108, 3d edit.
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224 BISHOP NEWTON
the oilier. Vili .: was represented to Nebuchadnezzar in the form
of n j£,rn! - was represented again to Daniel by f<mr great
wild fci : an.l the. beasts degenerate, as the nictalss in the image
grow v, ( and worse, the lower they descend.
" Tie- image's head was of fine gold," and "the first beast was
like a ! i ' »! i will) eagle's wings;" and these answer to each other ;
and both represented the powers then reigning, or the kingdom
of I'k; Babylonians: bat it appeared in splendour and glory to
Nebuchadnezzar, as it was then in i(s flourishing condition ; the
plucking of its vtmss and its humiliation were shewn to Daniel]
us it was then drawing near to its fatal end.
"The breast and arms of silver,'" as id "the second beast like
a bear," were designed to represent the second kingdom, or (hat
of llit! Modes and Persians. The "two arms" are supposed to
denote the t wo people ; but some farther particulars were hinted
to Daniel, of the one people rising up above the oilier people, and
of the contjuest of three additional kingdoms. To Nebuchad-
nezzar, this kingdom was called " inferior," or worse than the
former; and to Daniel it was described as very cruel, "Arise,
devour much flesh."
The third kingdom, or that, of the Macedonians, was repre-
sented by "the belly and thighs of brass," and by " the third
beast like a leopard with four wings of a fowl." It, was said
to Nebuchadnezzar, that "it should bear rule over all the earth ;"
and in Daniel's vision, "dominion was given to it." The " four
heads" signify Alexander's four successors; but the "two thighs"
can only signify the two principal of them, the Seleucidre and La-
gidfB, the Syrian and Egyptian Kings.
"The legs of iron," and "the fourth beast with great, iron
teeth," correspond exactly; and as "iron breaketh in pieces" all
other metals, so the fourth beast devoured and brake in pieces,
and stamped the residue with the feet of it ; and they were both
therefore equally proper representatives of the fourth kingdom, or
the Roman, which was stronger and more powerful than all the
former kingdoms. The " ten toes" too and the " ten horns" weio
alike fit emblems of the ten kingdoms, which arose out of the
division of the Roman empire ; but all that relates to "the little
horn" was revealed only to Daniel, as a person more immediately
interested in the fate of the church.
The " stone, thai was cut out of the mountain without hands?,
and became itself a mountain, and filled the whole earth," is
explained to be a kingdom which shall prevail over all other
kingdoms, and become universal and everlasting. In like manner,
" one like the Son of man came to the Ancient of days," and was
idvanced to a kingdom, which shall prevail likewise over all
other kingdoms, and become universal and everlasting.
Such concord and agreement is there between these prophe-
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
225
cies of Daniel, which remarkable as they are ill many tiling-',
an: in not hing more remarkable lli.ni that 1 1 1 « ■ v comprehend so
inuii v distant «*v(!iit.-*, ami extend through so manv ages, from tlio
ri'iun of (lie I5al>\ lonians to the cnii-umiiiriiioii of all tiling-.
They an: truly, an 'Mr. Mcdo called tla-m, l lhi. aacrvd calendar
and arm! almanac of prophecy, a prophetical chronology of times,
measured by the succession of four principal kingdoms, from tin.:
beginning of tlio captivity of Israel, until tlio mystery of God
should he finished.' They are as it were the great outlines, the
rest, mostly are filling up (lie, parts: and as these will cast, light
upon the subsequent prophecies, so the subsequent prophecies
will reflect ligbt upon them again.
Daniel was "much troubled, (ver. 23,) and his countenance
changed in him," at the foresight of the calamities to be brought
upon the church by the little horn: "but he kept the matter in
his heart." Much more may good men be grieved at the sight
of these calamities, and lament the prevalence of popery and
wickedness hi the world : but let them keep it in their heart,
that a time of just retribution will certainly conic. The proof
may be drawn from the moral attributes of God, as well as
from bis promise, (ver. 2G, 27:) "The judgment shall sit, and
they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy
it, unto the end. And the kingdom, and dominion, and the
greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given
to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is
an everlasting kingdom, and all dominion shall serve and obey
him."
INTRODUCTION TO THE LECTURE FOUNDED EV THE
HONOURABLE ROBERT BOYLE, JAN. 5, 1756.
THERE is not a stronger or more convincing proof of divine
revelation, than the sure word of prophecy. Rut to the
truth of prophecy it is objected, that the predictions were
written after the events ; and could it be proved as well as
asserted, it would really be an insuperable objection. It was
thought therefore that a greater service could not be done to
the cause of Christianity, than by an induction of particulars,
to show, that the predictions were prior to the events; nay
that several prophecies have been fulfilled in these latter ages,
and are fulfilling even at this present time : And for the farther
prosecution and the better encouragement of this work, I have
been called to preach these lectures, by the favour and recom-
mendation of the great prelate, who having himself written most
* Mede's Works, b. 3, p. 654.
2 D
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BISHOP NEWTON
excellently of Ihc use and intent of prophecy, is also willing to
reward and encourage any one who bestows his time and
pains upon the same subject. The ready and gracious con-
currence of the oilier trustees 1 wan an additional honour and
favour, and is deserving of the most grateful acknowledgements.
Engaging in this service may indeed have retarded the publi-
cation of these discourses longer than was intended ; but per-
haps they may be the better for the delay, since there have been
more frequent occasions to review and reconsider them ; and
time corrects and improves works as well as generous wines,
at least affords opportunities of correcting and improving
them.
This work hath already been deduced to the prophecies of
Daniel : and as some time and pains have been employed in
explaining some parts of his prophecies, and more will be
taken in explaining other parts ; it may be proper, before we
proceed, to consider the principal objections which have been
made to the genuineness of the book of Daniel. It was before
asserted, that the first who called in question the truth and
authenticity of Daniel's prophecies, was the famous Porphyry,
who maintained that they were written about the time of
Antiochus Epiphanes : but he was amply refuted by Jerome, 2
and hath been and will be more amply refuted still in the
course of these dissertations. A modern infidel hath followed
Porphyry's example, and his Scheme of Literal Prophecy hath
heaped together all that he could find or invent against the
book- of Daniel, and hath comprised the whole in eleven objec-
tions, in order to show that the book was written about the
time of the Maccabees : but he likewise hath been refuted to
the satisfaction of every intelligent and impartial reader ; as
indeed there never were any arguments urged in favour of
infidelity, but better were always produced in support of truth.
The substance of his 3 objections and of the answers to him
1 The trustees appointed by Mr. Boyle
himself, were Sir John Rotheram, Serjeant at
law, Sir Henry Ashurst of London, Knt. and
Bart. Thomas Tenison, D. D. afterwards
Archbishop of Canterbury, and John Eve-
lyn, Esq. — Archbishop Tenison, the survivor
of these, nominated and appointed for trus-
tees Richard Earl of Burlington ; Dr. Ed-
mund Gibson, then Archdeacon of Surrey,
afterwards Lord Bishop of London ; Dr.
Charles Trimnel, then Bishop of Norwich,
afterwards Bishop of Winchester; Dr.
White Kennet, then Dean, afterwards Bi-
shop of Peterborough ; and Dr. Samuel
Bradford, then Rector of St. Marv le Bow,
afterwards Bishop of Rochester. The Earl
of Burlington, being the only surviving trus-
tee, appointed to succeed him in the said
trust, William, then Marquis of Darlington,
now Duke of Devonshire, Dr. Thomas Sher-
lock, Lord Pishop of London, Dr. Martin
Benson, Lord Bishop of Gloeester, Dr. Tho-
mas Seeker, Lord Bishop of Oxford, now
Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Honour-
able Richard Arundell, Esq.; of whom Bi-
shop Benson died before, and Mr. Arundell
since the appointment of the present lec-
turer.
2 Hieron. Comment, in Dan.
3 See Collin's Scheme of Literal Pro-
phecy, p. 149 — 157. Bishop Chandler's Vin-
dication, p. 4 — 157. Sam. Chandler's Vindi-
cation, p. 3 — 60.
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
22?
may with truth and candour be represented in the following
manner.
1. It is objected, that the famous Daniel, mentioned by
Ezekicl, could not be the author of (he book of Daniel; be-
cause Ezekiel, who prophecied in the fifth year of Jehoiakim
king of Jttdah, implies Daniel at that time to bo a person in
years; whereas the book of Daniel speaks of Daniel at that
time as a youth. But here the objector is either ignorantly or
wilfully guilty of gross misrepresentation. For Ezekiel did
not prophecy in the fifth year of Jchoiuldm, nor in the reign of
Jehoiakim at all ; but he began to prophecy in the " fifth year
of king Jehoiachhi's captivity," the son and successor of Je-
hoiakim, (Ezek. i. 2,) that is eleven years after. When Daniel
was first carried into captivity, he might be a youth about
eighteen: 4 but when Ezekiel magnified his piety and wisdom,
(chap. xiv. and xxviii.) he was between thirty and forty : and
several years before that lie bad interpreted Nebuchadnezzar's
dream, and was advanced, (Dan. ii. 4S,) to be "ruler over the
whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all
(he wise men of Babylon ;" and was therefore very lit and
worthy to be celebrated by his fellow-captive Ezekiel.
2. 1 1 is second objection is, that Daniel is represented in the
book of Daniel as living chiefly at the courts of the kings of
Babylon and Persia ; and y^ct the names of the several kings
of his time are all mistaken in the book of Daniel. It is also
more suited to a fabulous writer than to a contemporary his-
torian, to talk of Nebuchadnezzar's dwelling with the beasts of the
field, and eating grass like oxen, &.C. and then returning again to
the government of his kingdom. Here are two objections con-
founded in one. As to the mistake of the kings' names, there
are only four kings mentioned in the book of Daniel, Nebu-
chadnezzar, Belshazzar, Darius the Mede, and Cyrus. Of the
first and last there was never any doubt ; and the other two
may be rightly named, though they are named differently by
the Greek historians, who yet. differ as much one from another,
as from Daniel. It is well known that the eastern monarchs
had several names ; and one might be made vise of by one
writer, another by another. It is plainly begging the ques-
tion to presume without farther proof, that Daniel was not
the oldest of these writers, and had not better opportunities of
knowing the names than any of them. As to the case of
Nebuchadnezzar, it is related indeed in the prophetic figurative
style. It is the interpretation of a dream, and stript of its
figures the plain meaning is, that Nebuchadnezzar should be
punished with madness, should fancy himself a beast and live
like a beast, should be made to eat grass as oxen, be obliged to
* Prideaux's Connection, part 1, b. 1.
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BISHOP NEWTON
live upon a vegetable diet, but after some time should recover
his reason, and resume (he government. And what is there
fabulous! or absurd in this? The dream was not of Daniel's
inditing, but was told by Nebuchadnezzar himself. The dream
is in a poetic strain, and so likewise is (he interpretation, the bet-
ter to show how the one corresponded with the other, and how
the prophecy and event agreed together.
3. He objects that the book oi' Daniel could not he written
by that Daniel who was carried captive in the Babylonish
captivity, because it abounds with derivations from the Greek,
which language was unknown to the Jews till long after the
captivity. The assertion is false (bat the book of Daniel
abounds with derivations from the Greek. There is an affinity
only between some few words in the Greek and the Chaldee
language : and why must they be derived the one from the
other ? or if derived, why should not the Greeks derive them
from the Chaldee, rather than the Chaldees from the Greek'?
If the words in question could be shown to be of Greek ex-
traction, yet there was some communication between the
eastern kingdoms and the colonies of the Greeks settled in
Asia Minor before Nebuchadnezzar's time ; and so some par-
ticular terms might pass from the Greek into the oriental lan-
guages. But on the contrary, the words in question are shown
to be not of Greek but of eastern derivation ; and consequently
passed from the east to the Greeks, rather than from the Greeks
to the east. Most of the words arc names of musical instru-
ments ; and the Greeks 5 acknowledge that they received their
music from the eastern nations, from whence they themselves
originally descended.
4. It doth not appear, says the objector, that the book of
Daniel was translated into Greek when t he other books of the
Old Testament were, which are attributed to the Seventy ; the
present Greek version, inserted in the Scpluagint, being taken
from Theodotion's translation of the Old Testament made in
the second century of Christ. But it doth appear, that there
was an ancient Greek version of Daniel, which is attributed to
the Seventy, as well as the version of the other books of the
Old Testament. It is cited by Clemens Romanus, Justin Mar-
tyr, and many of the ancient fathers. It was inserted in Origen,
and filled a column of his Hexapla It is quoted several times
by Jerome ; and he saith expressly that (he version of the Se-
venty was repudiated by the doctors of the church, and that of
Theodotion substituted in the room of it, because it came nearer
* Kal T<j) Aiovvtitp rtiv 'Act'av oXtjv KaQuow- ma%nam quoyiie musicre partem inde tranafz-
•avTcy pfypi Trii 'IvSiKris, iKiiOiv K.it Tuv jtoA- runt. Sirabo, 1. 10, p. 722. Vide etiam Athe-
Xrjv povoiKtiv itiratpipovot. Et cum Biirxhn nsci, I. 14, [J. 625, &C.
totam Asiam a/l Indiam unfjue tojiscrrarerint
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
229
to the Hebrew verity. 6 This version hath also been lately pub-
lished from an ancient MS. discovered in the Chighian library
at Rome,.
5. It is objected that divers matters of fact are spoken of
villi tbc clearness of history, to the times of Antiochus Epi-
phancs, who is very particularly dwelt upon, and that with great
and seeming fresh resentment for his barbarous usage of the
.lew s : and this clearness determined Porphyry, and would de-
termine anyone to think, that the book was written about the
times of Antiochus Epiphanes, the author appearing to be well
acquainted with things down to the death of Antiochus, but not
farther. But what an argument is this against the book of
Daniel ] His prophecies are clear, and therefore are no pro-
phecies : as if an all-knowing God could not foretell things
clearly; or as if there were not many predictions in other pro-
phets, as clear as any in Daniel. If his prophecies extend not
lower than the times of Antiochus Epiphanes, his commission
might be limited there, and he would not go beyond his com-
mission. But it hath been shown, and will be shown, that there
are several prophecies in Daniel relating to times long after the
death of Antiochus, and these prophecies are as clear as those
before the death of Antiochus. Neither is Antiochus so very
particularly dwelt upon as is commonly imagined ; neither is
he spoken of with greater resentment, than other prophets ex-
press towards the kings of Assyria and Babylon. All honest
men, who love liberty and their country, must speak with in-
dignation of tyrants and oppressors.
6. His sixth objection is, that Daniel is omitted among the
prophets recited in Ecclesiasticus, where it seems proper to
have mentioned him, as a Jewish prophet-author, had the book
under his name been received as canonical, when Ecclesiasticus
was published. It might have been proper to have mentioned
him, had the author been giving a complete catalogue of the Jew-
ish canonical writers. But that is not the case. He mentions
several who never pretended to be inspired writers, and omits
others who really were so. No mention is made of Job and
Ezra, and of the books under their names, as well as of Daniel :
and who can account for the silence of authors in any particular
at this distance of time 1 ? Daniel is proposed (1 Mace. ii. 60)
as a pattern by the father of the Maccabees, and his wisdom is
highly recommended by Ezekiel : and these are sufficient tes-
timonies of his antiquity, without the confirmation of a later
writer.
! 1 Danielem prophetam juxta Septua-
£tnta interpretes Domini Salvatoris ec-
«lesire Ron levant, utentes Theodotionis
editione : — quod multum a veritate dis-
cordet, et recto judicio repudiatus sit.'
20
Hieron. PrEfif. in Dan. 1 Judicio magU-
trorum ecclesiie edilio eorum [LXX] re-
pud iata est, et ThtjodotioDis vulgo lejjitur,
quae et Hebr.TO, et c;eteris translatoribus
congruit,' &c. Comm. in Dan. iv. col. 1088.
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BISHOP NEWTON
7. It is objected, that Jonathan, who made (he Clialdee para-
phrases on (lie prophets, lias omitted Daniel: from whence it
should seem, the hook of Daniel was not of that account with
the Jews, as the other hooks of the prophets were. But there
are oilier books, which were always accounted canonical among
the Jews, and yet have- no Chaldee paraphrases extant, as the
books of Ezra and Neheiniah. Jonathan might perhaps not
make a Targum or Chaldee paraphrase on Daniel, because half
of (lie book is written in Chaldee. Or he. might have made a
Targum on Daniel, and that Targum may have been lost, as
other ancient Targums have been destroyed by the injury of
time : and there are good proofs in (he Misna and other writers
cited by Bishop Chandler, that there was an ancient Targum on
Daniel. But though Jonathan made no Targum on Daniel,
yet in his interpretation of other prophets, he frequently applies
the prophecies of Daniel, as fuller and clearer in describing the
same events ; and consequently Daniel was in his esteem a pro-
phet, and at least of equal authority with those before him.
The ranking of Daniel among the Hagiographa, and not among
the prophets, was done by the Jews since Christ's time for very
obvious reasons. He was always esteemed a prophet by the
ancient Jewish church. Our Saviour callcth him Daniel the
prophet : and Josephus 7 speaketh of him as one of the greatest
of the prophets.
8. That part of Daniel, says the objector, which is written
in Chaldee, is near the style of the old Chaldee paraphrases ;
which being composed many hundred years after Daniel's time,
must have a very different style from that used in his time, as
any one may judge from the nature of language, w hich is in a
constant flux, and in every age deviating from what it was in
the former : and therefore that part could not be written at a
time very remote from the date of the eldest of those Chaldee
paraphrases. But by the same argument, Homer cannot be so
ancient an author as he is generally reputed, because the Greek
language continued much the same many hundred years after
his time. Nay, the style of Daniel's Chaldee differs more from
that of the old Chaldee paraphrases, than Homer doth from the
latest of the Greek classic writers: and when it was said by
Prideaux and Kidder, whose authority the objector alleges,
that the old Chaldee paraphrases came near to the Chaldee of
Daniel, it was not said absolutely but comparatively with re-
spect to other paraphrases, which did not come near to Daniel's
purity.
9. It is objected that the Jews were great composers of books
under the names of their renowned prophets, to do themselves
honour, and particularly under the name of Daniel : and the
1 Joseph. Antiq. 1. 10, c. 10 et 11
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
231
book of Daniel seems composed f.o do honour to the Jews, in the
person of Daniel, in making a Jew superior to all the wise men
of Knbvlon. II' there is any force in this objection, it is this.
Tlicro have been books counterfeited under the names of men of
renown, therefore there can be no genuine books of the same
men. Some pieces in Greek have been forged under the name
of Daniel, and therefore he wrote no book in Chaldee and Hebrew
long before those forgeries. In like manner some poems have
been ascribed to Homer and Virgil, which were not of their com-
posing ; find therefore the one did not compose the Iliad, nor the
other the ..Eneid. Some false writings have been attributed to
St. Peter ttnd St. Paid ; and therefore there are no true writings
of those apostles. Such arguments sufficiently expose and re-
fute themselves. One would think the inference should rather
lie on the other side. Some books have been counterfeited in
the name of this or that writer ; and therefore that there were
some genuine books of his writing, is a much more probable pre-
sumption than the contrary.
10. The tenth objection is, that the author of the book of
Daniel appears plainly to be a writer of things past, after a pro-
phetical manner, by his uncommon punctuality, by not only fore-
telling things to come, like other prophets, but fixing the time
when the things were to happen. But other prophets and other
prophecies have prefixed the time for several events ; as 120
years for the continuance of the antediluvian world ; 400 years
for the sojourning of Abraham's seed in a strange land ; 40 years
for the peregrination of the children of Israel ; 65 years for
Ephraim's continuing a people ; 70 years for the desolation of
Tyre ; 70 years for Judah's captivity ; and the like : and there-
fore the fixing of the times cannot be a particular objection
against the prophecies of Daniel. Daniel may have done it in
more instances than any other prophet : but why might not God,
if he was so pleased, foretell the dates and periods of any events,
as well as the events themselves 1 Josephus, whom the objector
hath quoted upon this occasion, differs totally from him. He 8
ascribes this punctuality to divine revelation, not like the ob-
jector, to the late composition of the book. He infers from it
that Daniel was one of the greatest prophets, not like the ob-
jector, that he was no prophet at all.
Lastly, it is objected, that the book of Daniel sets forth facts
very imperfectly, and often contrary to other historical relations,
8 Tfi yip (iiG\ia, 8<ra 5r) ovyypaipduevo; Ka- scriptos reliquit, leipintur hodieque apud nos :
ra\e\oi~ti' 7 avayivwoKiTai nap fjy.iv en Kal alque ii noliis fidem Jaciunt, Danielum cum
vvv' Kal rc~iaT£vKauzv f| aliTuv, '6tl Aavif/Aof Deo colloquia hahuisse. JVon enim futura
uuiXzi r J> Oe ~>. Oit yaq t<1 utWovra udvov xpo- solum, quemadmodum el alii votes, pi cedicere
0177-tiiun' 6l£r£\u, KiSAvia Kal o\ aWai 7rpo- solebat, sed el tempus, quo ha?c eventttra erant,
nrat, a\\d K'tt Kaipdv &pi?ev, zU 3v raijra prcejinivil. Joseph Antiq. 1. 10, c. 11, § 7.
iro6ijo6Tai. Liibri enim, qmtquot a se con-
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BISHOP NEWTON
and the whole is written in a dark and emblematical style, with
images and symbols, unlike the books of other prophets, and
taken from the schools of the Greeks. As to Daniel's setting
forth facts very imperfectly, he i.s perfect enough for his design,
which was not to write a history but prophecies, and history only
so far as it relates to his prophecies. As to his writing con-
trary to other historical relations, it is false. For most of the
main facts related by him are confirmed even by heathen histo-
rians : but if he contradicted them, yet he would deserve more
credit, as he was more ancient than any of them, and lived in
the times whereof he wrote. As to his emblems being unlike
the books of other prophets, and taken from the schools of the
Greeks, this is also false. For the like emblems are often used
by other prophets, and arc agreeable to the style and genius of
all the eastern writers of his time. They were so far from be-
ing taken from the schools of the Greeks, that on the contrary,
if they were ever used by the Greeks, the Greeks borrowed
them from the oriental writers. But after all, how doth this
last objection consist and agree with the fifth and tenth 1 There
'divers matters of fact were spoken of with the clearness of
history,' and the author was convicted of forgery by ' his un-
common punctuality.' Here ' all is dark and emblematical, im-
perfect and contrary to other histories.' Such objections contradict
and destroy one another. Both may be false, both cannot be
true.
These objections being removed, .what is there wanting of
external or internal evidence to prove the genuineness and au-
thenticity of the book of Daniel ? There is all the external evi-
dence that can well be had or desired in a case of this nature ;
not only the testimony of the whole Jewish church and nation,
who have constantly received this book as canonical ; but of
Josephus particularly, who commends him as the greatest of
the prophets; of the Jewish Targums and Talmuds, which fre-
quently cite and appeal to his authority ; of St. Paid and
St. John, who have copied many of his prophecies ; of our
Saviour himself, who citelh his words, and stylelh him Daniel
the prophet ; of ancient historians, who relate many of the same
transactions; of the mother of the seven sons and of the father
}f the Maccabees, who both recommend the example of Daniel
to their sons ; of old Eleazar in Egypt, who, praying for the
Jews then suffering under the persecution of Ptolemy Philo-
pater, (3 Mace. vii. 6, 7,) mentions the deliverance of Daniel
out of the den of lions, together with the deliverance of the
three men out of the fiery furnace ; of the Jewish high-priest,
who shewed Daniel's prophecies to Alexander the Great, while
he was at Jerusalem ; and still higher, of Ezekiel, a contempo-
rary writer, who greatly extols his piety and wisdom. Nor ia
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
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the internal less powerful and convincing than the external
evidence; for the language, the style, 1 lie manner of writing,
and all otliet internal marks and characters are perfectly agree-
fihle to that age ; and he appears plainly and undeniably to have
been a prophet by the exact accomplishment of bis prophecies,
as well those which have already been fulfilled, as those which
are now fulfilling in the world.
The genuineness and authenticity of the hook of Daniel be-
ing therefore established beyond all reasonable contradiction,
we may now proceed in our main design : and the vision of the
ram and he-goat, and the prophecy of the things noted in the
Scripture of truth, and the transactions of the kings of the north
and the south, will find sufficient matter for our meditations this
year. Another year will be fully employed on our Saviour's
prophecies of the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion
of the Jews, together with St. Paul's prophecies of the Man of
Sin, and of the apostacy of the latter times. The last and most
difficult task of all will be an analysis or explication of the
Apocalypse or Revelation of St. John. It is a hazardous at-
tempt, in our little bark, to venture on that dangerous ocean,
where so many stouter vessels and abler pilots have been ship-
wrecked and lost : but possibly we may be the better able to sail
through it, coming prepared, careened and sheathed, as I may
say, for such a voyage, by the assistance of the former prophets,
having particularly Daniel and St. Paul as our pole-star and
compass, and begging withal of God's Holy Spirit to steer and
direct our course. The conclusion will consist of reflections
and inferences from the whole. In this manner, with the Divine
assistance, shall be employed the three years, which is the period
usually allotted to these exercises; and it is hoped that the
design of the honourable founder will in some measure be an-
swered by proving the truth of revelation from the truth of pro-
phecy. It was indeed a noble design, after a life spent in the
study of philosophy, and equally devoted to the service of reli-
gion, to benefit, posterity not only by his own useful and nume-
rous writings, theological as well as philosophical, but also by
engaging the thoughts and pens of others in defence of natural
and revealed religion ; and some of the best treatises on these,
subjects in the English language, or indeed in any language,
are owing to his institution. This is continuing to do good even
after death ; and what was said of Abel's faith, may also be
said of his, that " by it he being dead, yet spcaketh."
From the instance of this excellent person, and some others
who might be mentioned, it appears that there is nothing incon-
sistent in science and religion, but a great philosopher may be a
good Christian. True philosophy is indeed the handmaid to true
eligion : and the knowledge of the works of nature will lead
20* 2E
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BISHOP NEWTON
one to the knowledge of the God of nature, "the invisible tilings
of him bring clearly seen by the tilings which are made; even
his denial power and Godhead." They are only minute phi-
losophers, who are skeptics and unbelievers. Smallerers in
science, lliey are but smallerers in religion. Whereas the most
eminent, philosophers, (hose who have done honour to the nation,
dune honour to human nature itself, have also been believers
and defenders of revelation, have studied Scripture as well as
1 m I lire, have searched after God in his word as well as in his
work's, and have even made comments on several parts of Holy
Writ. So just and true is the observation of the Lord Bacon,'
one of the illustrious persons here intended ; 'A little philosophy
incline! Ii man's mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bring-
eth men's minds about to religion.'
XV. — daxiel's vision of the ram and he-goat.
HITHERTO the prophecies of Daniel, that is from the
fourth verse of the second chapter to the eighth chapter,
are written in Chaldec. As they greatly concerned the Chal-
ckeans, so they were published in that language. But the re-
maining prophecies are written in Hebrew, because they treat,
altogether of affairs subsequent to the times of the Chakkcans,
and no ways relate to them, but principally to the church and
people of God. Which is a plain proof, that the Scriptures were
originally written in such a maimer as they might, he best under-
stood by the people: and consequently it is defeating the very
end and design of writing ihcm, to " take awny the key of know-
ledge," and to keep them locked up in an unknown tongue. We
may observe too that in the former part of the book of Daniel
he is generally spoken of in the third person, but in the latter
part he speaketh of himself in the first perscn, which is some
kind of proof that this part was written by himself if the other
was not, but. probably this diversity might arise from the different
dates, the one being written some time after the other.
Daniel's former vision of the four great beasts, representing
the four great empires of the world, was (vii. 1) "in the first
year of Belshazzar king of Babylon." He had another vision
in I lie third year of the reign of the same king Belshazzar, that
is about 553 years before Christ, ' (viii. 1,) " In the third year
of the reign of king Belshazzar, a vision appeared unto me,
even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at
the first." It, was exhibited to him (ver. 2) at the palace in
Shushan, and by the side of the river Ulai or Ulaus, as it is
8 Lord Bacons Essays xvii. 1 See Usher, Piideaux, and olher chronologers.
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ON THE PROPHECIES. 235
called by I he Greeks rind Romans. " And I saw in a vision,
(and it came to pass when I saw, that. I was at. Shushan in the
palace, whirl] is in the province of Elam,) and I saw in a vision,
and I was by I lie river Ulai." So likewise the prophet E/.ekiel
saw visions by the river Chebar; as il' (he Holy Spirit, bad de-
lighted to manifest himself in such retired scenes: and (lie gift
and graces of the Spirit, are often in Scripture-language de-
scribed by the metaphors of (springs and streams of w ater, than
whirl i nothing was more agreeable and refreshing in hot and
dry countries.
Such was the time and place of the vision. The vision itself
was of a ram and he-goat. And we may observe with the
learned Bochart, 2 that others also have had like visions, por-
tending future events. So Plutarch reports in the life of Sylla,
that two great goats were seen lighting in Campania, and "sud-
denly the vision vanished : nor long afterwards in that very
place Sylla having routed and slain seven thousand men, be-
sieged the consul in Capua. In the Brutus of Accius, which is
cited by Cicero in his first book of Divination, Tarquinus Superbus
relates his dream, " that a shepherd drove his (lock to him ; t wo
rams of the same breed were selected from thence, both choice
and beautiful, and he killed the finer of them; the other rushed
upon him with his horns, and cast him down and wounded
him." These rams of the same breed signified Lucius Junius
Brutus and his brother; one of whom was slain by Tarquin, and
the other rose against Tarquin, and despoiled him of his king-
dom. So that the probabilities of the poets and historians bear
some resemblance to the realities of holy writ. Or rather, in
this instance of prophecy, as in the ceremonials of religion and
the modes of government, God was pleased to condescend and
conform to the customs and manners of the age, to make thereby
a stronger impression on the minds of the people. Nor is such a
condescension unworthy of the Deity, nor unsuitable to the other
2 ' Ohservemus etiam aliis apparuisse vi- rwnlis elapsum, est. Nec mullo post Svlla,
sioncs hujusmodi, quae funtra porlcnderent. Mario Jiiniorc el Norbano consult', iii eo
Iia, Pluiarcho teste in vita Sylla', 'In Cam- ipso loco fnsis, et profligatis, el arsis homi-
pania, circa Tiphaton montcm (qui aliis Ti- mi in septcm miHibus, consulem inelusit Ca-
fata) interdiu visi sunt onfligeie magni hirci puss. El in Accii Bruto, qui a Ciceione ci-
duo, et ea omnia faccrc ct pati, qua: viri in tatur libro primo De Divinalione, Tarquiniua
pugna solent.' Spectrum aulem, eterra sen- superbus suum hoc sonmium narrat,
sira elatum, paulo post dissipatum, et ex
1 Visum est in somnis pastorem ad me appellere
Pccus lanigerum eximia pulchritudine,
Duos consanguincos arietes inde eligi.
Prteclarioremque alterum immolare me :
Deinde ejus germanum cornibus connitier
Tn me arietare, eoque me ad casum dari:
Exin prosiratum terra graviter saucium,
Kesupinum, in ccelo contueri maximum,' Sc.
Hi arietes consanguinei L. Junium Brutum, gens, eum reeno suo spohavit.' Boch»rti
et fratrem ejus a Tarquinio ca>sum signifi- Hierozoic. pars prior, 1. 2, c. 46, col. 527.
cabant; quorum ilk', in Tarquinium insur-
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BISHOP NEWTON
methods of his providence, hut is rather an argument of his infi-
nite goodness.
In the former vision there appeared four beasts, because there
four empires were represented : but here arc only two, because
here we have a representation of what was transacted chiefly
wit liin two empires. The first of the four empires, that is the
Babylonian, is wholly omitted here, for its fate was sufficiently
known, and it was now drawing very near to a conclusion. The
second empire in the former vision, is the first in this; and
what was there compared to a bear, is here prefigured by a rain.
"Then I lifted up mine eyes, (saith Daniel, ver. 3,) and saw,
and behold, there stood before the river, a ram which had two
horns, and the two horns were high; but one was higher than
the other, and the higher came up last." This ram with two
horns, according to the explication of the angel Gabriel, was
the empire of the Medes and Persians, (ver. 20:) "The ram
which thou sawest having two horns, are the kings (or kingdoms)
of Media and Persia." The source of this figure of horns for
kingdoms, as a 3 learned writer observes, must be derived from
the oriental languages, in which the same word signifies a horn,
and a crown, and power, and splendour. Whence a horn was an
ensign of royalty among the Phoenicians, and the Hebrew word
PP keren or a horn, is several times by the Chaldee paraphrasts
rendered unsha malchulha or a kingdom; and horns are fre-
quently xised for kings and kingdoms in the Old Testament.
This empire, therefore, which was formed by the conjunction
of the Medes and Persians, and is often called the Medo-Per-
sian, was not unfitly represented by a ram ivith two horns.
Cyrus, the founder of this empire, was 4 son of Cambyses king
of Persia, and by his mother Mandane was grandson of As-
tyages king of Media; and afterwards marrying the daughter
and only child of his uncle Cyaxares king of Media, he suc-
ceeded to both crowns, and united the kingdoms of Media and
Persia. It was a coalition of two very formidable powers, and
therefore it is said that "-the two horns were high : but one,"
it is added, " was higher than the other, and the higher came
up last." The kingdom of Media was the more ancient of the
two, and more famous in history; Persia was of little note or
account till the time of Cyrus: but under Cyrus the Persians
gained and maintained the ascendant ; some 6 authors say that
3 Quam melius itaque ex linjruis orientis
potuisset liujus rei fans erui? quibiis, (it id
est jam enntritum, eadem voce cornu, roro~
nu, -potentiate splendor nunciipantur. Utide
count, regium insi^r.e ajiud Plurnices, et
Hebramrnm pp se i cornu, Chatda'is iriter-
pretihus aliquofies n.*vdSo sen wrrtnm red-
dilur, ut Vldit illustris Grotius ; ct cornua pro
regno et retribwt passim in veleri fu-dere.
Spanlieim. de Usu Nuinismaium, vol. 1,
Dissert. 7, p. 400.
1 Xenoplion. Cyroprcd. 1. 1, c. 2, § 1 el
8 ; c. 5, tj 1 7, sqq.
4 Herod. I. 1, § ISO. Strabo, 1. 15, p.
10C2. Justin. 1. 1, c. C.
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237
Cyrus subdued (lie king of I lie M<-des by force of nnns ; and
his son * Cambyses upon his death-brd earnest fy exhorted ihf;
Pel ~ni in not, to sillier the kingdom to return again to the
Med.es. Hut a question still remains, why that empire, which
was he fore likened to a bear for its cruelly, should now he re-
presented by ii ram ? Mr. Mede's conjecture is ingenious and
plausible enough, 7 that (he Hebrew word for a rum, and the
Hebrew word for Persia, both springing from the same root, and
both implying something of strength, the one is not improperly
made tins type of the other. The propriety of it appears from
hence, as is suggested likewise by another writer in the general
preface to Mr. Mede's works, that it was usual for the king of
Persia to wear a ram's head made of gold, and adorned with
precious stones, instead of a diadem ; for so 8 Ammianus Mar-
cel] inns- describes him. Bishop Chandler and others farther
9 observe, that ' rams heads with horns, one higher and the other
lower, are still to be seen on tbe pillars at Persepolis.'
The great exploits of the ram are recapitulated in the next
verse, (ver. 4:) "I saw the ram pushing westward, and north-
ward, and southward, so that, no beasts might stand before him,
neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand, but
he did according to his will, .and became great." Under Cyrus
himself, the Persians pushed their conqupsts westward 1 as far
as the /Egean sea and the bounds of Asia : northioard they sub-
dued 2 the Armenians, Cappadocians, and various other nations:
southward they conquered Egypt, if not under Cyrus as 3 Xeno-
phon affirms, yet most certainly under * Cambyses, the son and
successor of Cyrus. Under Darius they subdued 5 India, but
in the prophecy no mention is made of their conquests in the
east, because those countries lay very remote from the Jews, and
were of little concern or consequence to them. The ram was
strong and powerful, " so that no beasts might stand before him,
neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand ;" that
is, none of the neighbouring kingdoms were able to contend
with the Persians, but all fell under their dominion. " He did
according to his will, and became great :" and the Persian em-
pire was increased and enlarged to such a degree, that it ex-
6 Herod. 1. 3, § 65.
' — ' quis stispicari possit, etiam ariclis de
rege Persarnm in eadem visione typum, ad
nominis Elam (quod alterum duorum est
3uo ea gons appelletur) significatum allu-
ero. S>n enim He'.irxis (undo nomen y«
arks) el oSx atque nVy Chaldaeis, idem
significant ncmpe forlem seu robustum esse.
Forte irritur oS^ Elam istis, ut illis V"*
arielcm sonabat, indeque rex Elam hoc typo
Danieli figuratnr. 1 Mede's Works, b. 3,
Com. Apoc. p. 474.
• — 1 Aureum capitis arietini sigmentum
interstinctum tapillis pro diademate gestans/
Ammian. Marcell. 1. 19, c. 1.
9 Bp. Chandler's Vindication, c. 1, § 4, p.
154. * Aries item bicornis inter rudera Per-
sepoleos.' Wetstein. in Rev. xiii. 11.
1 Herod. 1. 1, c. 169. Xenoph. Cyrcpa?d
1. 7, c. 4.
2 Xenoph. ibid. lib. 3, c. 2 et 7; c. 4,
§ 16.
3 Xenoph. ibid. lib. 1, c. 1, § 4 et 8 . c. 6,
§ 20.
4 Herod. 1. 3, c. 39.
* Herod. 1. 4, c. 44.
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BISHOP NEWTON
(ended, (Esther i. T,) "from India even unto Ethiopia, over an
hundred and seven and twenty provinces ;" so that seven pro-
vince-; were added to the hundred and twenty, (Dan. vi. 1,)
which it contained in the time of Cyrus.
After the ram the he-goat appears next upon (lie scene. "And
ns I was considering', (saith Daniel, ver. 5,) behold, an he-goat
came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched
not the ground : and the goat had a notn hie horn between his
eyes." Which is thus interpreted by the angel Gabriel, (ver.
21:) " The rough goat is the king of Grecia, and the great horn
that is between his eyes, is the first, king," or kingdom. A go,U
is very properly made the type of the Grecian or Macedonian
empire, because the Macedonians at first, about two hundred
years before Daniel, were denominated JEgcadM or the goal's peo-
ple ; and upon this occasion, as heathen authors report, Ca-
ranus, their first king, going with a great multitude of Greeks
to seek new habitations in Macedonia, was commanded by the
oracle to take the goats for his guides to empire: and after-
wards seeing a herd of goats flying from a violent storm, he fol-
lowed them to Edessa, and there fixed the seat of his empire,
made the goats his ensigns or standards, and called the city
JEgece, or the goafs town, and the people JEgeadec or the goafs
people. This observation is likewise owing to the most excel-
lent Mr. Mede : 6 and to this may be added that the city yEgeac
or JEgre, was the usual burying-place 7 of the Macedonian kings.
It is also very remarkable, that Alexander's son by lioxana was
named Alexander JEgus, or the son of the goat; and 8 some of
Alexander's successors are represented in their coins with goafs
horns. This he-goat "came from the west :" and who is igno-
rant that Europe licth westward of Asia 1 He came " on the
face of the whole earth," carrying every thing before him in all
the three parts of the world then known : "and he touched not
the ground," his marches were so swift and his conquests so
e 'Nec dcesse videtur hujusmodi allusionis
exemplum apud Danielem, c. 8, ubi Mace-
doncs, qui tunc temporis jEqeades (hoc est,
Caprini) dicebantur, typo caprarum, rexque
hirci fiirura designatur. " Ecce," inquit, lt hir-
cus caprarum (id est, caprarum maritns)
venit ah oceidenie, See/' Innuit auu-m Alex-
atirlruui magnum, sEqradum reborn. Illi
Alacedones sunt, lta enim gens ista voca-
batur qua prima re-jni sedes orat, a Carano
conditore, duccntis plus minus ante Dartie-
'em annis. Occasionem nominis ex Trogo
refert epitomator Justinus, 1. 7, c. 1, cujus
verba ascribere non gravabor. 'Caranus,'
inquit, 'cum magna multitudine Grx-corum,
sedes in Macedonia rcsponso oraculi jussus
Ruaarere, cum in iEmathiam vunisseU ur-
hem Edessam non snntienlihus nppidanis
propter inibrium et nebuhe inagniUidinem,
gregem caprarum inibrem fiigjiniium secu-
tus, occupavit : revucui usque in nicmuriarn
oraculi, quo jussus erut ducibus capris im-
perium quarere re«ui sedem slaiuit; rcli-
gioseque postea observavit, quocuiiutie ag-
men moveret, ante signa casdem capras
habere, ctcptorum duces liabiturus quas reg-
ni habucrat aiilhorcs. Urbem Edessam ob
memoriam tnuneris .*52°*ea?,popidum JQge.ar
du* vocavit.' Vide camera. RIede's Works,
b. 3, Comment. Apoc. p. 473, 474.
' Plin. 1.4, c. 10, § 17. Vide eliam notas
Hardmni.
" Spaiiheim. de TJsu Numismatum, vol. 1,
Dissert. 7, p. 389 et 399.
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
239
rapid, that lie might be said in a manner to fly over the ground
without touching it. For the same reason the same empire in
the former vision was likened to a leopard, which is a swift nim-
ble animal, and to denote the greater quickness and impetu-
osity, to a leopard with four wings. " And the goat had a nota-
ble horn between his eyes ;" this horn, saith the angel, "is the
first king," or kingdom of the Greeks in Asia, which was erected
by Alexander the Great, and continued for some years in his
brother Philip Aikkeus and his two young sons Alexander
iEgus and Hercules. Dean Prideaux, speaking of the swiftness
of Alexander's marches, hath a passage 9 which is very pertinent
to our present purpose. ' He flew with victory swifter than others
can travel, often with his horse pursuing his enemies upon the
spur whole days and nights, and sometimes making long marches
for several days, one after the other, as once he did in pursuit of
Darius, of near forty miles a day for eleven days together. So
that by the speed of his marches he came upon his enemy be-
fore they were aware of him, and conquered them before they
could be in a posture to resist him. Which exactly agreeth with
the description given of him in the prophecies of Daniel some
ages before, he being in them set forth under the similitude of
a panther, or leopard with four wings: for he was impetuous
and fierce in his warlike expeditions, as a panther after his prey,
and came on upon his enemies with that speed, as if he flew with
a double pair of wings. And to this purpose he is in another
place of those prophecies compared to an he-goat coming from
the west, with that swiftness upon the king of Media and Persia,
that he seemed as if his feet did not touch the ground. And his
actions, as well in this comparison as in the former, fully verified
the prophecy.'
In the two next verses we have an account of the Grecians
overthrowing the Persian empire, (ver. 6, 7.) "And he came
to the ram that had two herns, which I had seen standing
before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power.
And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved
with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two
horns, and there was no power in the ram to stand before him,
but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him ;
and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand."
The ram had before pushed westward, and the Persians in the
reigns of Darius Hystaspis and Xerxes 1 had poured down with
great armies into Greece ; but now the Grecians in return
carried their arms into Asia, and the he-goat invaded the ram
that had invaded him. "And he came to the ram that had
two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran
unto him in the fury of his power." One can hardly read these
• Prideaux Connect, part 1, b. 8, Ann. 330. Alexander 2. 1 Herod. I 6, et 7.
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BISHOP NEWTON
word-; without having ?ome image of Darins's army standing and
guarding the river Granicus," and of Alexander on the other
side with hid forces plunging in, swimming across the stream,
and rii-liing on the enemy with all the fire and fury that can he
imagined. It was certainly a strange, rash, mad attempt, with
only a!w.it thirty-live thousand men, to attack, at such disad-
vantage, an army of more than five times the number: but he
was successful in it, and this success diffused a terror of his
name, and opened his way to the conquest of Asia. "And I
saw him come close unto the ram :" he had several close en-
gagements or set battles with the king of Persia, and parti-
cularly at the river Granicus in Phrygia, at the straits of Issus
in Cilieia, and in the plains of Arbela in Assyria. "And he
was moved with clioler against him," for 3 the cruelties which
the Persians had exercised towards the Grecians: and for 4
Darius's attempting to corrupt sometimes his soldiers to betray
him, and sometimes his friends to destroy him ; so that he
would not listen to the most advantageous offers of peace, but
determined to pursue the Persian king, not as a generous and
noble enemy, but as a poisoner and a murderer, to the death
that he deserved. "And he smote the ram, and brake his two
horns:" he subdued Persia and Media, with the other provinces
and kingdoms of the Persian empire; and it is memorable,
that in 5 Persia he barbarously sacked and burned the royal
city of Perscpolis, the capital of the empire; and in 6 Media,
Darius was seized and made a prisoner by some of his own
traitor-subjects, who not long afterwards basely murdered him.
" And there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but
he cast him down to the ground and stamped upon him ;" he
conquered wherever he came, routed all the forces, took all
the cities and castles, and entirely subverted and ruined the
Persian empire. "And there was none that could deliver the
ram out of his hand ;" not even his numerous armies could
defend the king of Persia, though his forces 7 in the battle of
Issus amounted to six hundred thousand men, and 8 in that of
Arbela to ten or eleven hundred thousand, whereas the 9 whole
number of Alexander's was not more than forty-seven thou-
sand in either engagement. So true is the observation of the
Psalmist, (xxxiii, 16.) " there is no king saved by the multi-
2 Arrian. do Expcd. Alex. 1. 1, c. 14, Sc.
( Sic Granictim, tot millibus equitum petti—
tumquR in ulteriore stantibus ripa, superavit, 1
Quint. Curl. 1. 4 c. 9.
3 Diod. Sic. 1. 17, c. 69. Quint. Curt.
1. 5, c. 6.
4 Quint. Curt. 1. 4, c. 11. 'Verum enim-
vero,quum modo milites meos Uteris ad pro-
ditionem, modo amicos ad perniciem meam
pecunia solicitet; ad internecionem mini
pencquendus est, non ut justus hostis, sej
ut percussor veneficus.'
' Diod. Sic. 1. 17, c. 70. Quint. Curt.
1. 5, c. 6, et 7.
s Quint. Curt. 1. 5, c. 8, &c.
* Arrian. de Exped. Alii. 1. 2, c. 8. Plu-
tarch, in Alex. t) 18.
e Plutarch, in Alex. § 31. Diod. Sic. 1. 17,
c. 53. Rhod. Arrian. 1. 3, c. 8.
9 Polyb. 1. 12, § 19. Arrian. 1. 3, c. 12.
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f.ude of an host :" and especially when Cod hath declared the
fall of empires, I.Tton even this givafrs! must. Cull. The fortune
of Alexander, of which ho huh ii hath i»n n :-;<i<l ; ' Plutarch hath
wi'il leu a whole treatise about it ; ih;- f.»r: unc of Alexander, I say,
was 1 1< 1 1 i i i 1 1 hul. the providence of Coil.
When Alexander was at Jerusalem, these prophecies were
shown lo him by the high-priest, according to (he 3 relation of
Josephns. For while Alexander lay at the siege of Tyre, he
sent (o Jaddua the high-priest at Jenisaiem lo demand provi-
sions for his army, and the tribute that was annually paid to
Darius. But the high-priest refused to comply with these de-
mands, by reason of his oath of allegiance to the king of Persia.
Alexander therefore in great rage vowed to revenge himself upon
the Jews : and as soon as he had taken Tyre and Gaza, he
marched against Jerusalem. The high-priest, in this imminent
danger, had recourse to God by sacrifices and supplications : and
as he was directed in a vision of the night, he went forth the
next day in his pontifical robes, with all the priests in their proper
habits, and the people in white apparel, to meet the conqueror,
and to make their submissions to him. As soon as the king saw
(he high-priest coming to him in this solemn procession, he ad-
vanced eagerly to meet him, and bowing down himself before
him, received him with religious awe and veneration. All pre-
sent were astonished at this behaviour of the king, so contrary
to their expectation ; and Parmenio in particular demanded the
reason of it, why he, whom all others adored, should pay such
adoration to the Jewish high-priest. Alexander replied, that
he paid not this adoration to him, hut to that God whose priest
he was : for while he was at Dio, in Macedonia, and was medi-
tating upon his expedition against the king of Persia, there ap-
peared unto him in a dream this very man, and in this very
habit, inviting him to come over into Asia, and promising him
success in the conquest of it. : and now he was assured that he
had set out upon this expedition under the conduct of God,
to whom therefore he payed this adoration in the person of
his high-priest. Hereupon he entered Jerusalem in peace, and
went up and offered sacrifices to God in the temple, where the
high-priest produced and laid before him the prophecies of
Daniel, wherein it was written that a king of Grecia should
overthrow the Persian empire, which he interpreted of himself.
After this he granted peculiar privileges lo the Jews, and pro-
ceeded in his expedition with full confidence and assurance of
success.
Some persons have rejected this account as fabulous, parti-
cularly Van Dale, Mr. Moyle, and Collins, who says that it is
1 an entire fiction unsupported, and inconsistent with history
1 Ilipi t?i; 'AXeltfrfyoo rv^?;. 2 Josephi Antiqu. ]. 11, c. 8.
21 2F
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BISHOP NEWTON
and chronology, and romantic in its circumstances.' 3 Bu'.
Bishop Lloyd, Dean Prideaux, Bishop Chandler and other:
have sufficiently vindicated (lie truth of the story. 4 Even Bayle
himself", who was never thought to be over-credulous, admits
the fact : and it must be said, though some things are extraor-
dinary, yet. there is nothing incredible in (he whole relation.
Alexander lay seven months at. the siege of Tyre ; in that time
he might well want provisions for his army : and it is no won-
der that he should send for some into Judea, when the Tynans
themselves used to be supplied from thence, (1 Kings v. 9, 1 1 ;
Ezck. xxvii. 17; Acts xii. 20.) The fidelity of the Jews to
Darius, and their regard to their oath 5 was nothing more than
they practised upon oilier occasions ; for the same reason 5 they
would not submit to Ptolemy, having taken an oath to another
governor : and Ptolemy afterwards rewarded them for it in
Egypt, and 6 committed the most important garrisons and
places of trust to their keeping, thinking that he. might safely
rely upon them, who had proved themselves so steady and faith-
ful to their former princes and governors, and particularly to
Darius king of Persia. That Alexander was in Judea, I think
w r e may collect from other authors. Arrian says, 7 that he sub-
dued all that part of Syria which was called Palestine. Pliny
affirms, 8 that the balsam-tree, which grew only in Judea, was
cut and bled a certain quantity in a day, while Alexander was
waging war in those parts. Justin informs us, 9 that he went
into Syria, where many princes of the east, met him with their
mitres ; upon which passage the note of Isaac Vossius, is very
just and pertinent:' 'I think that Justin had respect to that
memorable history, which Josephus relates of Jaddua the high-
priest of the Jews.' If Alexander therefore came into Judea,
as he certainly did, it was prudent in the Jews, though they re-
fused to succour him at a distance, yet to submit to him upon
his nearer approach ; it was in vain to withstand the conqueror,
and the terror of his name was now become very great by his
victories, and especially after the dreadful execution that he
3 Van Dale Dissert, super Aristcam, c.
10. Movie's Letters to Prideaux, |>. 26, &c.
vol. 2. Collins's Scheme of literal Prophecy,
p. 462.
* Bishop Lloyd's Letter to Dr. Sherlock.
Prideaux Connect, and answers to Mr.
Moyle. Bishop Chandler's Vindication of
his Defence, c. 2, § 1, p. 176, &c. Mr.
Sam. Chandler's Vindication of Daniel, p.
76, &c. Bayle's Diet. Art. Haceoo, Not. O.
6 Joseph. Antii[. 1. 12, c. 1.
* Joseph, ibid, et contra Apion, 1. 2,
§ 4.
T Arrian. de Exped. Alex. 1. 2, c. 25. Kai
fiivr/S St)D('a5 TrpoffKr/y'ojp/ic^ra ijtr]. El ccrAeru.
qnidem 6yr?Vp, fjuai Pultfstina vocatur, ojqAda
in sunm yotcstatt m udthtxerat,
• PJin.Nat. Hist. 1. 12.C.25, §54. 'Alex-
andro maL'no res ibi gerente, toto die. a:stivo
unam roneliam impleri justtim erat.'
9 'Tune in Syiiatn proficiscitur, ubi ob-
vios cum infulis mnitos orientis reges ha-
buit.' Justin. Hist. 1. 11, c. 10, §6.
1 ' Pnto respicere Juslinum ad merno-
rabilem illam historiam, quam Josephus
de Jaddo, summo Judajorum sacerdotc, nar-
rat.'
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
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had made; at Tyre and at Gaza. While Alexander was at Jeru-
salem, it w as natural enough for the ] i i i^l i-| >ri-;~t to show him tin:
prophecies of a kill!? of Greeia overcoming the king of Persia.
Nothing could he devised more likely to engage his attention, to
cnnlirui his hopes, and to conciliate his favour to (he whole
nation. And for his sacrificing in the temple, it. is no more
than * other heathen princes have done, it, is no more than he
did in other places, lie might perhaps consider God as a local
deity, and oiler sacrifices to him at Jerusalem, as he did to Her-
cules tit Tyre, and to Jupiter Ilammon in Egypt, and to Bclus
in Babylon.
What are then the great objections to the credibility of this
story 1 It is pretended, that it is inconsistent with chronology;
for Joscphus places this event after the sieges of Tyre and of
Gaza, whereas 3 all historians agree that Alexander went directly
from Gaza to Egypt in seven days. But the best historians do
not always relate fads in the exact order of time, as they hap-
pened ; they connect things of a sort together, and often mention
later occurrences first, reserving what they think more important
for the last place: and such possibly might he the intention of
Joseph t is. Eusehius affirms, that Alexander 4 went after the
siege of Tyre immediately to Jerusalem; and he might have
good authority for aHinning so, living as he did in Palestine : and
with him agree Usher, Prideaux, and the best chronologers. And
indeed it is most probable, that Alexander's progress was from
Tvrc to Jerusalem, and from Jerusalem to Gaza; because his
resentment of the affront that he had received was then fresher
in his mind, and Jerusalem lay not much out of the way from
Tyre to Gaza, and it was not likely that he should leave a place
of such strength and importance untaken behind him. But
if Joscphus was mistaken about two months in point of time,
yet such a mistake is not. sufficient to shake the credit of his
whole relation. What historian is there almost who hath not
fallen into a mistake of the like kind. And yet after all Josc-
phus might not be mistaken, for Alexander might march against
Jerusalem from Gaza, either during the siege or after it. Arrian
informs us, 5 that while the siege of Tyre was carrying on, and
the machines and ships were building, Alexander with some
troops of horse and other forces went into Arabia, and having
reduced that part of the country to his obedience partly by force,
and partly by treaty, he returned to the cam; 1 in eleven days :
and why might he not make such an excursion from Gaza for a
* Joseph, contra Apion. 1. 2, § 5, 2 Mac-
cab, xiii. 23.
3 Diocl. Sic. I. 17, c. 49. Q,. Curtius,
1. 4, c. 7, 5 2. Arrian. 1. 3, c. 1. Plutarch
in Alex. § 26.
4 Eusclm Chron. UVllcr's Annals, p. 214,
21*. Prid. Connect. Part 1, b. 7, Anno 532.
Darius 4.
1 Arrian. dc Expcd. Alex. 1. 2, c. 20.
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BISHOP NEWTON
few (.lays, during- ilic two inonlhs that his army was besieging
it 1 or after he had taken the city, why might he not with part of
the mi imv go to Jerusalem, and leave the oilier part to rest them-
selves at Gaza 1 Jerusalem lay at no very great distance from
Gaza, and a person of Alexanders expedition might go and
return within a very few days. The historians say, indeed,
that he came into Egypt in seven days after he departed from
Gaza; but none of them say how lung he stayed at. Gaza, to
refresh his army after the siege. We know from Diodorus, 0 thai
he stayed long enough to settle the affairs of the country about
Gaza ; and why might he not in that time make this, visit to
Jerusalem ]
Another objection is taken from the silence of authors, who
would hardly have passed over so memorable a transaction, if
there had been any truth in it : but it is not so much as men-
tioned by any of the heathen historians; it is supported en-
tirely by the testimony of Josephus. But if we reject all
relations, which rest upon the credit of a single historian, an-
cient history will be shrunk into a very narrow compass.
There were numerous writers of the life aird actions of Alex-
ander, who were his companions in the wars, or lived in or
near his time, as Ptolemy, Aristobulus, and others : but none
of their writings have been transmitted down to us ; they have
all been swallowed up in the gulf between that time and this ;
and who can be certain that some of them did not record this
transaction? It must have been mentioned by some ancient
historian; for we see that Justin in a short abridgment of his-
tory is thought to have alluded to it ; and some other author
might have related it at large in all its circumstances. The
most copious writers now extant of Alexander's affairs, are Dio-
dorus Siculus, Quintus Curtius, Arrian, and Plutarch : but the
eldest of these lived some centuries after Alexander, so that they
must have transcribed from former historians : and they have
transcribed variously, as suited their particular purpose ; what
one hath inserted, another hath omitted ; and not two of them
have, related things exactly alike. There are actions and sayings
of Alexander, which are omitted by them all, but yet are pie-
served by other authors: and no wonder, then, that with tha
common prejudice of Greeks and Romans, they should omit
some particulars of so remote and so disagreeable a people as
the Jews. The affairs of each province are best related by r the
writers of each province. A Jew was most likely to record the
particulars concerning the Jews. And Josephus, though he may
have been thought credulous in some respects, yet was never
charged with forging of history. His credit as an historian will
upon examination be found equal almost to the very best. Jo- '
6 Diod. Sic. 1. 17, c. 49.
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soph Scaligcr, who was an exceeding pood judge in mailers of
this nature, 7 giveth him the character of a most faithful, a most
diligent, and a most learned writer ; of whom, saith he, we may
boldly affirm, that not only in Jewish, hut likewise in foreign
iiffnirs, we may more safely rely on his credit, than on all the
Greek and Latin historians together.
There remains then no difficulty that, can, really stick with
ns, unless it he the particular interposition of God in this affair
and the prophetic dreams of Ale\-andcr and the high-priest.
These things, it must be confessed, are wonderful; hut if we
recollect the miraculous interpositions of God in favour of his
people ; if we reflect what a particular providence attended
Alexander, and conducted him to conquest, and empire ; if we
consider the clear and express prophecies concerning him ;
these things, though wonderful, niav yet easily he reconciled
to our belief, and will appear perfectly consistent with the
oilier dispensations of divine providence. Admitting the truth
of the prophecies, we cannot think these extraordinary circum-
stances at all incredible. These extraordinary circumstances
are alleged to confirm the prophecies; and if the prophecies
he found mutually to confirm these extraordinary circum-
stances, this is so far from weakening that it strengthens the
argument. Indeed without the supposition of the truth of
these circumstances, it will be extremely difficult to account
for Alexander's granting so many privileges and favours to the
Jews. He 8 allowed them the free exercise of their religion ;
he exempted their land from tribute every seventh, or the
sabbatical year; he settled many of them at Alexandria with
privileges and immunities equal to those of the Macedonians
themselves ; and when the Samaritans had revolted, and mur-
dered the governor whom he had set over them, he assigned
their country to the Jews, and exempted it in the same manner
as Judea from tribute, 9 Josephus hath proved from Alexander's
own letters, and from the testimony of Hecatreus, a heathen
historian. But what were the merits and services of the Jews,
that they should be so favoured and distinguished above other
people 1 There is no way of accounting for it so probable, as
by admitting the truth of this relation. With this all appears
natural and easy, and is utterly inexplicable without it.
But to return from this digression, if it may be called a
digression, to consider a point of history, that is so nearlv
related to our subject. Nothing is fixed and stable in human
* 'Josephus, fidissimus, duigentissimus, credi, quam omnibus Grcecis et Lattnis.*
et eruditissimus scriptor. 1 Seal, in nolis ad Idem in Prolegom. de Emendations Tern
Fra^menia Grrec. p. 45. ' De Josepho nos porum, p. 17.
hoc andacter dicimus, non solum in rebus 8 Joseph. Antiq. 1. 11, c. 8, § 5.
Judaicis, sed etiam in externis tutius illi 9 Joseph, contra Apion. I. 2, § 4.
21 *
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BISHOP NEWTON
affairs; mid (he empire of (lie front, though exceeding great,
was perhaps for that reason (lie sooner broken into pieces,
(ver. 8 :) ''Therefore t he he-coat waxed very great, and when
lie was strong, the great horn was broken ; and, for il came up
four notable ones, toward (he four winds of heaven." Which
the angel thus interprets, (ver. 22:) "Now that being broken,
whereas four stood up for il, four kingdoms shall stand up out
of the nation, but nol in his power." The empire of the goat
was in its full strength, when Alexander died of a fever at
Babylon. lie was succeeded in the throne by his natural bro-
ther Philip Aridajtis, and by Ins own two sons Alexander /Egtis
and Hercules: but. in the space or 1 about, fifteen years, lliey
were all murdered, and then the first horn or kingdom was
entirely broken. The royal family being thus extinct, the
2 governors of provinces, who had usurped (lie power, assumed
the title of kings: and by the defeat and death of Antigomis
in the battle of Jpsus, they were reduced to four, 3 Cassander,
Lysimachus, Ptolemy, and Seleucus, who parted Alexander's
dominions between them, and divided and settled them into
four kingdoms. These four kingdoms are the four notable horns,
which came up in the room of t lie first great horn ; and are the
same as the four heads of the leopard in the former vision.
" Four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in
his power ;" they were to be kingdoms of Greeks, not of Alex-
ander's own family, but only of his nation ; and neither were
they to be equal to him in power and dominion, as an empire
united is certainly more powerful than the same empire divided,
and the whole is greater than any of the parts. They were
likewise to extend " toward the four winds of heaven :" and in
the partition of the empire, 4 Cassander held Macedon, and
Greece, and the western parts ; Lysimachus had Thrace, Bithy-
nia, and the northern regions ; Ptolemy possessed Egypt, and
the southern countries ; and Seleucus obtained Syria and the
eastern provinces. Thus were they divided " toward the four
winds of heaven."
As in the former vision a little horn sprang up among the
ten horns of the Roman empire, so here a little horn is de-
scribed as rising among the four horns of the Grecian empire,
(ver. 9, 10, 11, 12 :) "And out of one of them came forth a little
horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and
toward the east, and toward the pleasant land. And it waxed
1 Pee Usher, Prideaut, and the chrono-
logers.
2 Diod. Sic. 1. 20, c. 53. Justin. 1. 15,
c. 2. 'Hujos honoris ornamentis tamdiu
omnes abstinuerunt, quaindiu filii regis sui
superesse potuerunt. Tanta in illis vcre-
cundia fu.it, ut cum opes regias liaherent,
regum tamcn nominibus a^quo animo ca-
rucrint, quoad Alcxandro justus hajres f u i t.*
• Diod. Sic. 1. 21, c 1. Polyb. 1. 5, c. 67.
Plutarch, in Demetrio, 5 30.
4 Diod. Sic. ibid. Prideaux Connect, part
1, b. 8, Ann. 301. Ptolemy Soter 4.
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great even to (he host of heaven, and it cast clown some of the
host nnd of the stars to the ground, .11 id stamped upon them.
Yen, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and
ov him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his
sanctuary was cast. down. And an host, was given him against
the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast, down
tin; truth to the ground, and it practised, and prospered." All
which is thus explained by the angel, (ver. 23, 2 J, 2.3 :) " And
in the latter lime of their kingdom, when the transgressors are
come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understand-
ing dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall bo
mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy won-
derfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the
mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he
shall cause craft to prosper in his hand, and he shall magnify
himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall
also stand up against the prince of princes, but he shall be
broken without hand." This Utile horn is by the generality of
interpreters, both Tewish and Christian, ancient and modern,
supposed to mean Antiochus Epiphanes, king of Syria, who
was a great enemy and cruel persecutor of the Jews. So 5 Jose-
phus understands the prophecy, and says that ' our nation suf-
fered these calamities under Antiochus Epiphanes, as Daniel
saw, and many years before wrote what things should come to
pass.' In like manner 6 St. Jerome explains it of Antiochus
Epiphanes, and says 'that he fought against Ptolemy Philo-
meter and the Egyptians, that is against the south; and again
against the east, and those who attempted a change of govern-
ment in Persia ; and lastly he fought against the Jews, took
Judea, entered into Jerusalem, and in the temple of God set up
the image of Jupiter Olympius.' With St. Jerome agree most
of the ancient fathers, and modern divines and commentators ;
but then they all allow that Antiochus Epiphanes was a typo
of Antichrist. Antiochus Epiphanes at first sight doth indeed
in some features very much resemble the little horn ; but upon
a nearer view and examination it will evidently appear, that in
other parts there is no manner of similtude or correspondence
between them. Sir Isaac Newton, with that sagacity which
was peculiar to him, and with which he penetrated into Scrip-
s Jn*rph. Antiq. 1. 10, P. 11, § 7. Kal
Si) raSra tj/t^iv cvviSr) r'3 cQvu ira^tiv U7r'
A.vti6^gu rjh Etc/kivous, kuOiIi? eltitv b Aa-
vifjAsf, Kul toAXois crcciv IjtTTOOcQev avtypaips
T(i ytvtwiutva. Et ftane factum est ut haze
ipsa sab Antioclto Epiphane gens nostra pa-
terctur, prtittt ri'tcrat Dnnidus, et mullis ante
annis qucs Ventura erant scriptis mandave-
nt.
* Hieron. in Dan. c. S, col. 1105.—' Con-
tra Ptolemaeum Pliilometorem dimicavit, hoc
est, contra meridiem, et contra ^Egyptios.
Rursumque ad orientem 7 et contra eos qui
res novas in Perside moliebantur: ad e.\-
tremum contra Juda?os dimicans, capta
Juda*a, tinsressus est Ierosolvrram . et in
templo Dei simulacrum Jovis Olympii sta-
tuit. S
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BISHOP NEWTON
ture as well as into nature, 7 perceived plainly that tlic little horn
could not l>e drawn for Antiochus Epiphanes, hut must be de-
signed for some other subject: and though we shall not en-
tirely follow his plan, nor build altogether upon his foundation,
yet wc shall be obliged to make use of several of his materials.
There are then two ways of expounding this prophecy of the
little horn, eilher by understanding it of Antiochus Epiphanes,
and considering Antiochus as a type of Antichrist ; or by leav-
ing him wholly out of the question, and seeking another applica-
tion : and which method of the two is to be preferred, will bet-
ter appear in the progress of this discourse.
A horn in the style of Daniel doth not signify any particular
king, but is an emblem of a. kingdom. In the former vision
the ten horns were not ten kings, but so many kingdoms, into
which the Roman empire was divided : and the little horn did
not typify a single person, but a succession of men, claiming
such prerogatives, and exerting such powers, as are there spe-
cified. In this vision likewise the tiro horns of the ram do not
represent the two kings, Darius the Mode, and Cyrus the Per-
sian, but the two kingdoms of Media and Persia: and for this
plain reason, because the ram hath all along two horns ; even
when he is attacked by the he-goat, he hath still two horns;
but the two kingdoms of Media and Persia had long been
united under one king. The horns of the he-goat too, prefigure
not kings, but kingdoms. The first great horn doth not. design
Alexander himself, but. the kingdom of Alexander, as long as-
thenic continued in him, and his brother and two sous. The
four horns, which arose after the first was broken, are cxpre =.-!y
said, (vcr. 22,) to be "four kingdoms:" and consequently it
should seem, that the little horn cannot signify Antiochus
Epiphanes or any single king, but must denote some kingdom ;
by kingdom meaning, what 8 the ancients meant, any govern-
ment, state or polity in the world, whether monarchy, or re-
public, or what form soever. Now what kingdom was there,
that rose up during the subsistence of the four kingdoms of
the Grecian empire, and was advanced to any greatness and
eminence, but the Roman 1 The first, great horn was the kingdom
of Alexander and his family. The four horns were four kingdoms,
not of his family, but only of the nation. "Four kingdoms
-hall stand up out of the nation :" and doth not this imply that,
the remaining kingdom, the kingdom of the little horn, should
he not of the nation 1
The general character, therefore, is better adapted to the Ro-
Kir Isaac Newton's Observations on
Daniel, c. 9.
8 See tfnp point proved fi m tf.-^'on
author;} as weli a.:; from S ri; eu-.-, >;i
li'M'innin? of Mr. Mode's tract entitled
lit annm Romrtmim rut. rfjmim nunrtvm l}a-
w/./i's. .Moll's Works, ln.oli 3, p. 711.
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
249
mans : and now let, us consider tlie particular properties and
aclions of the litllo horn, whether they may lie more justly
ascribed to Antioclms Epiphanes, or to the Roman*. " And out
of one of I hem came forth a little horn." Anlioehns Epiphanes
was indeed tlie son of Anlioehns ihe Great, king' of Syria : and
he is 9 said to be the little horn, because he rose from small be-
ginning's to the kingdom, having been many years tin hostage at
Rome. But then his kingdom was nothing more than a con-
tinuation of one, of the four kingdoms; it cannot possibly be
reckoned as a fifth kingdom springing up among (lie four ; find
the little horn is plainly some power different and distinct from
the four former horns. Is not this, therefore, more applicable
1o the Romans, who were a new and different power, who rose
from small beginnings to an exceeding great empire, who first
subdued Maccdou and Greece, the capital kingdom of the goat,
and from thence spread and enlarged their conquests over the
rest? Nor let it seem strange, that (he Romans who were pre-
figured by a great beast in the former vision, should in this bo
represented only by the horn of a beast; for nothing is more
usual, than to describe the same person or thing under different
images upon dilferent occasions: and besides in this vision
the Roman empire is not designed at large, but only the Roman
empire as a horn of the goat. When the Romans first got
footing in Greece, then they became a horn of the goat. Out
of this horn they came, and were at first a little horn, but in
process of time, overtopped the other horns. From Greece
they extended their arms, and overran the other parts of the
goat's dominions: and their actions within the dominions of
the goat, and not their affairs in the western empire, are the
principal subject of this prophecy. But. their aclions, which
are most. largely and particularly specified, arc their great perse-
cution and oppression of tlie people of God: which renders it
probable, that the appellation of the little horn might be given
them for the same reason that the great persecutor and op-
pressor of the saints in the western empire is also called the
little horn. It is the same kind of power, and therefore might
be signified by the same name.
It will appear too, that the time agrees better with the Ro-
mans. "And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the
transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance,
and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up." Anriochus
Epiphanes might be said indeed to stand up in the latter lime of
9 ( Quid qnum obses fnisset Romtp, et ne-
scienlf seriatu cepisset imperiurn, cce.' Hic-
ron. in Dun. 8, col. 1105. ' Antiochum Ejii-
phanem si^ni!i"at, quia tint Roma; obses. 1
Vatablus in locum. ' Auiiechus, qui obses
fuit Roma;, uec a patru desi^milus rex, set!
invasit rejourn, &c.' Clarins in lornm.
* Anlioehns modica; primiun I'm innr, priva-
tum, et Roma.* obses, ex post facto ilielus Epi-
phanes.' Grotius in locum. So likewise
Poole, &c.
2G
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BISHOP NEWTON
their kingdom; because Macedonia, (lie first of the four king
donw, was conquered and reduced into a Roman province,
diiriii'.!' his reign, But when he stood up, the transgressors in
the Jewish nation ioere not come lo the full ; for when he began
to reign, 1 Onias was high-priest, of the Jews, and I lie temporal
as well as ecclesiastical governinent. wns at this time in the
hands of the high-priest, and this Onias was a most, worthy
trnod magistrate, as well as a most, venerable pious priest. As
the author of the second hook of Maccabees saith, (2 Mac.
iii. 1,) "the holy city was inhabited with all peace, and the
laws were kept, very well, hecausc of the godliness of Onias the
high-priest, and his hatred of wickedness." It. was after this
lime, that, the great, corruptions were introduced into the Jewish
church and nation ; and they were introduced chiefly through
the menus of Autiochus, by his direction, or under his autho-
rity. The Romans might much heller he said to stand up in
the latter lime of their kingdom, who saw the end not, only of one
kingdom, but of all the four; who first subdued the kingdom
of Macedon and Greece, and then inherited by the will of At-
tains, the kingdom of Pergamus, which was the remains of the
kingdom of Lysimachus, and afterwards made a province of the
kingdom of Syria, and lastly of the kingdom of Egypt. When
the Romans stood up too, the transgressors were come to the full ;
for the high-priesthood was exposed to sale ; good Onias was
ejected for a sum of money to make room for wicked Jason,
and Jason was again supplanted for a greater sum of money by
a worse man (if possible) than himself, his brother Menelaus ;
and the golden vessels of tin; temple were sold to pay for the
sacrilegious purchase. At the same time the customs of the
heathen nations were introduced among the Jews ; the youth
were trained up and exercised after the manner of the Greeks ;
the people apostatized from the true religion, and even " the
priests, (2 Mac. iv. 14,) had no courage to serve any more at
the altar, but despising the temple, and neglecting the sacri-
fices, they hastened to be partakers of unlawful diversions."
Nay, Jerusalem was taken by Antiochus ; forty thousand Jews
were slain, and as many more were sold into slavery ; the
temple was profaned even under the conduct of the high-priest
Menelaus, was defiled with swine's blood, and plundered of
every thing valuable ; and in the same year, 2 that Paulus
Emilius the Roman consul vanquished Perseus the last king
of Macedonia, and thereby put an end to that kingdom, the
Jewish religion was put down, and the heathen worship was
set up in the cities of Judea, and in Jerusalem ; and the temple
1 For these am! manv pnrti'-iilars uhirh follow, I lie hvo books of Maccabees, and Jose-
nhos his Antinnilies of" !he Jews lutisf lie e.orisilhed.
2 .See Prideanx Conned, [tart 2, b. 3, Anno 1U8.
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
251
itself was consecrated to Jupiter Olympius, and his image was
erected upon I lie very altar. Then indeed "the transgressor.*
wire ('dine In the full," and (hen, as we see, llic Romans Blood
up, "a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark
sentences."
A l,-in<j; in the prophetic style is the same as a Liniidom, ami
a kingdom, as we before observed, is any slate or government.
"A king of fierce countenance, and understanding daik sen-
tences." The latter expression in the 3 Syriac is hanslaled
skilful in tiding, and in the Arabic, sl.il/ul of disjivtalionn. We
may suppose llie meaning to be, that this should he a politic
and artful, as well as a formidable power; which is not so
properly the character of Anliochus, as of the Romans. They
were re presented in the former vision by a " beast dreadful
and terrible ;" and for the same reason they are here denomi-
nated " a king of fierce countenance." lie cannot so well he
said to be "a king of fierce countenance," who was even
frightened out of Egypt by a message l'rotu the Romans. The
story is worthy of memory.' 1 Anliochus Epiphanes was making
war upon Egypt, and w as in a fair way of becoming master
of the w hole kingdom. The Romans, therefore, fearing lest he
should grow too powerful by annexing Egypt to the crown of
Syria, sent an embassy to him, to require him to desist from bis
enterprise, or to declare war against lfim. He was draw ing near
to besiege Alexandria, when he was met by the three ambassa-
dors from Rome. Popillius, the chief of them, bad formerly
been his friend and acquaintance, while he was an hostage at
Rome : and the king, at their first meeting, graciously offered
him bis hand in remembrance of their former friendship. But
Popillius declined the compliment, by saying that private friend-
ship must give place to the public welfare, and he must first
know whether the king was a friend to the Roman state, before
he could acknowledge him as .1 friend to himself : and so
saying, be presented to him the tables which contained the de-
cree of the senate, and desired an immediate answer. Anliochus
opened and perused them, and he replied that he would con-
sider the matter with his friends, and return his answer very
speedily. But Popillius with a wand that he carried in his
hand drew a circle in the sand round the king, and insisted upon
his answer before he stirred out of that circle. The king, asto-
nished at this peremptory and imperious manner of proceeding,
after some hesitation, said that he would obey the commands of
the senate ; and then at length Popillius reached forth his hand
' " Regnandi peritus." Syr. "Disputatio- 45, c. 12. Valerius Maximus, 1. 6, c. 4, §
num peritus." Arab. 3. Velleius Paterculus, I. 1, c. 10. Justin
♦Polyb. Leant. 92, 1. 29, c. 11. Appian. 1. 34, c. 3.
de Bellis Syriucis, p. 151 § 66. Livius, 1.
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BISHOP NEWTON
to him as a friend and confederate. This incident happened
very soon a Tier the conquest of Macedonia, which as it dismayed
Am ioclms, so it emboldened the Romans to act in this manner :
and (his being their first memorable action, as soon as they be-
came a horn or kingdom of (he goat, it is very filly said of them,
more fitly than of Antiochus, "a king of fierce countenance
shall stand up."
The other actions likewise of the little horn accoi'd better
with the Romans. This horn, though little at first, yet
"waxed exceeding great toward the south, and toward the
east, and toward the pleasant land." This horn, therefore, as
Sir Isaac Newton justly observes, 5 was to rise up in the north-
west parts of those nations, which composed the body of the
goat: and from thence was to extend his dominion towards
Egypt, Syria, and Judea. Observe the particulars. He " waxed
exceeding great :" and so did the Roman empire even within
the territories of the goat, but not so did Antiochus Epiphanes ;
for he was so far from enlarging the kingdom of Syria, that it
was less in his time than under most of his predecessors, and
he 6 left it as he found it, tributary to the Romans. — " Toward
the south :" Antiochus indeed did several times invade Egypt,
and gained great advantages over Ptolemy Philomctor king of
Egypt ; but he was never able to make himself absolute mas-
ter of the country, and annex it to the kingdom of Syria ; as
the Romans made it a province of their empire, and kept pos-
session of it for several centuries. His designs were frustrated,
as we have seen, by an embassy from the Romans ; and he
went out. of Egypt baffled and disgraced, a word from them
being as effectual as an army. — " Toward the east :" the Ro-
mans did grow very powerful toward the east ; they conquered
and made a province of Syria, which was the eastern kingdom
of the goat : but Antiochus was seated in the east himself,
and did not extend his dominions farther eastward. On the
contrary, the Parthians had withdrawn their obedience from
the kings of Syria, and had erected a growing kingdom in -the
east. Antiochus did indeed 7 vanquish Artaxias, the tributary
king of Armenia, who had revolted from him ; but this was
rather in the north than in the east. He had not the like suc-
cess among the Persians, who were also dilatory in paying their
tribute ; for 8 having heard much of the tribes of Elyniais, and
particularly of the temple there, he went thither with a design
of seizing the treasures of the city and temple ; but the inhabi-
tants rose upon him, repelled and routed him and his army, so
5 Sir Isaac Newton's Observations on
Daniel, chap. 9, p. 119, 120.
0 2 Mace, viii. 10.
' Apptau. de Bell. Syr. § 45, 46. P.jr-
phvr. apttij Hieron. in Dan. 11, col. 1133.
* 1 Maeeuli. vi. 1—4; 2Macc«b.ix. 1,2.
Ju-wph. Atmij. I. 12, n. 8, § 1. Porphyrins
apud Kieron in Dan. 1 1 .
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OX THE PROPHECIES. 253
thai he was forced id fly with ell— :t[»j>< >-7iilin<»iif. and ilisjrni«-o out
nl' llii' countrv ; and sunn after he .-ii krni-d and died. — "And
low .1 ill llir plea-'anl land," t li.it i , .fnil-.i ; I'm- -n il is called in 'la;
I * - . i ' 1 1 1 ~ . (.-vi. 2 I.) "ilia plca--anl land ;'' an! in Jeremiah, (iii. Pi,)
'■a plea-aul land, a goodly la • i il ;i •_; •. - ;" and so twice again itfter-
w "ir,l- in Daniel, (\i. II.) Antiochus did indeed take Jeru-
«;>!r>n, and miserably harass and oppress Jews, as it lias been
almve iidaleil : bul I he Jews in a little lime, under the conduct
of I !n' Maccabees, recovered llieir liberties, and established (heir
religion and government in greater splendour and security than
before. The Romans more oMerlually conquered and subdued
then), first made, a province of their country, and then destroyed
their city and temple, and dispersed the people, so that after so
fatal a fall they have never from that time to this been able to
rise again.
Another remarkable properly, that eminently distinguished
the little horn from all other.-, was that "his power should be
miirlity, but not by his own power;" which commentators are
much at a loss to explain. Home fay, 9 that he should be
miirhty not so much by his own industry, as by (he gift of
(Jod : but so are all horns or kingdoms whatever. Others say, 1
that (lod should give him this power for the punishment of
bis p.>tip!e ; and others again, 5 that, he should obtain it by the
factions, and perfidy, and baseness of the Jew.?, who should
betray their country to him: but these limit and restrain the
meaning to a particular subject, to his power over the Jews,
whereas it is said in the general, that "his power should be
mighty, but not by his own power." "His power," in general,
not only over this or that particular people, "should be might}-,
but not by his own power." The best explanation that they
can give of it, who understand the whole of Antiochus Epi-
pbanes, is that 3 he attained to the crown chiefly by the favour
and assistance of Eumcnes, king of Pergamus, and Attains his
brother, who having at that time some jealousy of the Romans,
were desirous to make the king of Syria their friend: but we
do not read that they assisted him in any of his wars after-
wards, and neither was his kingdom strengthened by foreign
armies or alliances. They who conceive Antiochus to be a
type of Antichrist' offer a fairer interpretation, because Anti-
christ was to exercise an usurped authority, and not his own,
and the kings of the earth, according to St. John, (Rev. xvii.
13,) were to "give their power and strength unto the beast."
Hut this part of the prophecy, as well as the rest, can no where
* 'Non propria industria, sed Deodante.' Vatabulus.
1 1 Quia Dens voluit per ipsum punire populum suum.' Clarius.
a So Poole, Lowth, &c. 'Non lam ex ipso causa erit tanti increment], quam ex faction**
bus Jud;porum.' Grolius. 3 Appian. de Bell. Syr. § 46.
4 See Lovvth's Commert
22
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BISHOP NEWTON
be so justly and properly applied, as to 1 1 1 e Romans. With
them ii quadrates exactly, and with none of (he oilier horns or
kingdoms of the goat. The strength of (lie oilier kingdoms
coii.-:-!cd in themselves, and had its foundation in some part
of the goat: but the Roman empire, as a. horn or kingdom of
the goat, was not mighty by its own power, was not strong
by virtue of the goat, but drew its nourishment and strength
from Rome and Italy. There grew the dunk and body of the
tree, though the branches extended over Greece, Asia, Syria, and
Egypt.
The remainder of the prophecy relates mostly to the perse-
cution and oppression of I lie people of God. "And he waxed
great even to the host of heaven, (or against the host, of heaven,)
and he cast down some of the host, and of the stars to the
ground, and stamped upon them," that is, the Jewish stale in
general, " the mighty and the holy people," (ver. 24,) or the
Priests and Levites in particular, who are called stars; as they
were eminent for their station, and illustrious for their know-
ledge ; and the host of heaven, as they watched and served in
the temple, and their service is denominated a warfare : (Num.
viii. 24, 25.) This passage was in some measure fulfilled by
Antiochus Epiphanes as well as by the Romans: but our
Saviour making use of the like expressions, (Matt. xxiv. 29,)
"the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the
heavens shall be shaken," in speaking of the destruction of
Jerusalem by the Romans, this passage also may more properly
be referred to that event.
" Yea he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, (or
against the prince of the host,) and by him 1 lie daily sacrifice was
taken away, and the place of his sanctuary w r as cast down.''
Antiochus did indeed take away the daily sacrifice, but he did
not cast down the place of his sanctuary, he did not destroy Ihe
temple. He took away the daily sacrifice for a few years, but
the Romans for many ages : and the Romans likewise utterly
destroyed the temple, which lie spoiled only and profaned.
"And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by
reason of transgression." The word here translated an host is
rendered in other places, (Job vii. 1,) and in the book of Da-
niel itself, (x. 1,) an appointed time: "And an appointed time
was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of trans-
gression :" Or as we read in the margin, The host was given over
for the transgression against the daily sacrifice, and he cast down
the truth to the ground, and he practised, and prospered. Or as the
same thing is expressed by the angel, " He shall destroy won-
derfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the
mighty and the holy people ; and through his policy also he
shall cause craft to prosper in his hand, and he shall magnify
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himself in his heart, and hy peace shall destiny many." Hut
Ajitiochus did not so mightily destroy the Jews, nor prosper
in his practises and designs against, them. A\ lien lie took Jeru-
salem, ho slew forty thousand, and sold forty thousand more, :
hut when the city was besieged and taken hy the Roman-?, 6 the
number of (ho captives amounted to ninel}'-seven thousand,
ami of the slain to eleven hundred thousand. The Romans too
carried their conquest and revenge so far, as to put. an end to
the government of the Jews, and entirely to take away their
place and nation. Antiochus meant as much to root out the
whole people ; his malice was as great, but his. success was not
equal : for though his forces were victorious at first, yet they
were defeated at last, and his 7 generals, Apollonius, Seron, Ni-
canor and Goigias, Timotheus and Bacchides, and even Lysias
himself, were all shamefully routed one after another : and the
news of these defeats hastened his death.
It is further added, that "he shall also stand up against the
prince of princes." If by the prince of princes the high-priest be
meant, it is very true that Antiochus did put in and put out
the high-priests at pleasure, but the Romans took away the
whole administration. If by the prince of princes be meant, as
most, probably was meant, the Messiah, then Antiochus had
no share in the completion ; it was effected by the Romans.
It was by the malice of the Jews, but by the authority of the
Romans, that he was put to death ; and he suffered the punish-
ment of the Roman malefactors and slaves. And indeed it is
very worthy of our most serious consideration, whether this
part of the prophecy be not a sketch of the fate and sufferings
of the Christian, as well as of the Jewish church. Nothing is
more usual with the prophets than to describe the religion and
worship of later times by metaphors and figures borrowed from
their own religion. The Christians may full as well as the
Jews be comprehended under the name of the holy people, or
people of the holy ones. And the Romans not only crucified our
Saviour, but also persecuted his disciples for above three cen-
turies : and when at length they embraced the Christian reli-
gion, they soon corrupted it ; so that it may be questioned,
whether their favour was not as hurtful to the church, as their
enmity. As the power of the Roman emperors declined, that
of the Roman pontiffs increased: and may it not with equal
truth and justice be said of the latter, as of the former, that
they cast down the truth to the ground, and practised, and pros-
pered ? How applicable in this sense is every part of the angel's
interpretation! "A king of fierce countenance, and under-
standing dark sentences shall stand up. And his power shall
6 Joseph, de Bell. Jud. 1. 6, c. 9, § 2 et 3.
* 1 Mace. iii. iv. 2 Mace. viii. x. Josephi. Anlio. 1. 12, c. 7.
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BISHOP NEWTON
bo uiiirl.lv, !>::'. n<;( by his own power: and ho si mil destroy
wonderfu 1 :; . and shall prosper, and practise, nidi shall deslroj
the M! : -.; !.:y ami I lie holy people, (or the j.- :>,•!■■ of lite, huhj ones .)
And l!::v.,i'gh his policy also, lie slm!! can -e craft !o prosper ii<
his Imn.i, and lie. shall magnify himsi !f in his heart, ;■ >>:l l>v
pe-i snail destroy many: lie shall also stand up against the
pviii. e of princes, but he shall lie br.,!.ei! wii hoist hand." And
this farther opens and explains the rca^n of ihe a] pe!lali(.n of
f!ie Utile horn. The persecuting power of Rome, whether ex-
ercised towards I lie Jews, or (awards l!ie Christians, or by ihe
emperors or by the popes, is slid the }•>!,',■ horn. The tyranny is
(he same; but as exerted in Clreece and Ihe east, it is ihe little
horn of the he-goal or ihe third empire ; as exerted in Jlaly ai d
(he west, it is the little horn of the fourth beast or ihe fnuiih
empire.
But. the Vlllc horn, like oilier tyrannical powers, was to come
to a remarkable end ; "he shall be broken without hand." As
the stone in Nebuchadnezzar's! dream was "cut out of the
mountain without hands," that is, not by human, but by su-
pernatural means; so the "Utile horn shall be broken without
hand," not. die the common death, not fall by the hand of men,
but perish by a stroke from heaven. And this agrees perfectly
with the former predictions of the fatal catastrophe of the Ro-
mans. "The stone (that is, (he power of Christ, ii. 3-1) smote
the image upon his feel, of iron and clay, and brake (hem to
pieces." Again, (vi«, I?,) "I beheld then, because of the voice
of the great words which the hern spake ; I beheld even till the
beast was slain, and bis l>ody destroyed, and given (o the burn-
ing frame." And again, (vcr. 2G.) " the judgment shall sit, and
they shall take away his dominion, to consume, and to destroy
it unto the end." All which implies that the dominion of (he
Romans shall fi aally be destroyed with some extraordinary ma-
nifestation of the divine power. It is indeed very true, (hat
Antiodms Epiphanes died in an extraordinary manner. lie
was returning from his unsuccessful expedition into Persia,
when he heard the news of the defeat of his armies one after
another by the forces of the Maccabees. He set forw ard there-
fore in great rage and fury, breathing nothing but death and
destruction to ihe. whole generation of ti'ft Jews. Rut in the
way ho was seized with violent pains in lus bowels ; and having
a fall from his chariot, lie was sorely bruised, and his inward
pains grew more violent, so that he was not. able to proceed in
his journey, but was forced to stop at a lit lie town upon the
road. There he lay in great torment, and filthy ulcers broke
out in his body, from whence issued worms, and such a stench,
that he became intolerable (o others, ami even to himself.
Nor were the torments and agonies of his mind less than those
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257
of ii is hodv. II<! was vexed even Id d: ■'. ; -ret Ion, thought lie saw
dreadful .-| !iT I re- and appa ril inn ■ n!' 'r. d all llic pangs
horror-; nf ;i eui!t y conscie] ice. : and in I hi- i:.i -'Table coudil ion de-
lay pining and rolling till he Th : is the <c<»i n it thai is
given of his den 1 1 1, 8 ;i nil confirm' d h\ ilealhen a< well as bv
,le\\ i si i 1 1 r s! ( 1 is : hi 1 1 willi I his dif'i re] ire, ! I 1 I he Corn HT ascribe
il lo I he venu'e.'i I ico (.f I lie g< ids for (lie sacrilege I h a I he designed
to commit at Elymais ; (he hilier represent il ;is (he ju-l judg-
liM'iil of heaven for (he sacrilege dial he really roiiiinined al Jc-
nisalein, and foe (he barbarous slaughter thai he made of so
many thousand • of (he Jews ; and (hey say, llial he himself upon
his deal lihed confessed as much : and which of these accounts
is the more, probable, and credible, every intelligent, reader will
easily determine.
]>y thus tracing the particulars it. appears, that though seme
of thorn may agree very well with Aniiochus Epiphanes, yet,
others can by no means accord or he reconciled to him: but.
thry all agree and correspond exactly with the Romans, and
with no oik; else: so that the application of the character to
them m'usi be the right, application. It is therefore surprising,
that, a man of Dr. Halifax's learning, after so many proofs* to
the contrary, can however opine, that the character " must of
neeessiiy be restrained to Antiochus Epiphanes, and to him
only ;" and for such reasons, and for none others than have here
been obviated and refuted. The fitness and propriety of the
application to the Romans will still farther appear by consi-
dering the time that is allotted for the duration and continu-
ance of the vision. "I will make thee know, (saith the angel
to Daniel, ver. 19,) what shall be in the last end," or, to the last-
end (if the indignation: that is, as Mr. Low lb paraphiaseth it,
' I will explain (o thee the whole scries of God's judgments
upon his people, lo the end and conclusion of them:' but that
end and conclusion is not yet come. There are intimations in
the prophets, that God's indignation against his people will be
accomplished, and the final destruction of the Roman domi-
nion will fall out about the same period. But the time is more
particularly noted. One angel asked another angel, (ver. 13,)
"How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice
and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary
and the host to be trodden underfoot.'?" In the original (here
is no such word as concerning ; and Mr. Lowth rightly observes
that the words may be rendered more agreeably to the Hebrew
thus : For how long a time shall the vision last, the daily sacrifice
be taken away, and the transgression of desolation continue, &c.1
a Polyh. 1. SI, r. II, Appian. de Bell. Syr. 5 66. Diodorus et Porphyrius apud Hieron
in Dan. II col. 1131 ci 1133. 1 Maccab. vi. 1 — 16; 2 Maccab. ix. Josenh. Antiq. 1. 12,
c. 8. § 1.
22* 2 II
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BISHOP NEWTON
After the sane manner the question is translated by the 9 Se-
venty, n.ii;l in the Arabic version, nod in t!:e Vulvar Latin.
The answer is, (ver. 1-1,) "Unto two thousand and three hun-
dred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." In the ori-
ginal it is, Unto lira thousand and three hundred evenings and
mornings, an evening' and morning being in Hebrew the notation
of lime for a day ; and in allusion to this expression it is said
afterwards, (ver. 26,) "The vision of the evening and lite morn-
ing is true." Now these two thousand and three hundred days
can by no computation be accommodated to the times of An-
tioehus Epiphanes, even though the days be taken for natural
days. Two thousand and three hundred days are six years and
somewhat more than a quarter: but the profanation of the altar
under Antioelms Epiphanes lasted but three years complete,
according to the author of the first book of the Maccabees,
(1 Mac. i. oO, compared with iv. 52;) and the desolation of the
temple, and the taking away of the daily sacrifice by Apollo-
rritts, continued but three years and a half, according to 1 Jose-
plms. Mr. Mede proposcth a method to reconcile the differ-
ence, and ' 2 saith that the time is 'not. to be reckoned from (lie
height of the calamity, when the daily sacrifice should be taken
away, (from thence it is but three years,) but from the begin-
ning of the transgression, which occasioned this desolation,
and is described, 1 Mac. i. 11, &c.' But Antiochus began to
reign, acrcrding to the anther of the first book of the Macca-
bees, (i. 10,) "in the 137th year of. the kingdom of the Greeks,"
or era:;" the Seleuciil.o ; and "in those days" was the begin-
ning of the transgression, which is described 1 Mac. i. II, &c.
that is ten or eleven years before the cleansing of the sanctuary,
which was performed " in the 14Sth year," according to the same
author, (iv. 52;) or if we compute the time from Anfioclnis's
first going lip against Jerusalem, and spoiling the city and
temple, these things were done according to the same author,
(i. 20,) "in the 143d year;" so that this reckoning would fall
short of the time assigned, as the other exceeds it. The diffi-
culty or impossibility rather of making these two thousand and
three hundred days accord with the times of Antiochus, I sup-
pose, obliged the ancients to consider Antiochus as a type of
Antichrist: and therefore 3 Jerome faith m his comment, that
ibis place most Christians refer to Antichrist. ; and affirm, that
what was transacted in a type under Antiochus, will be ful-
5 "Em; tStc >' loums cr,',ccrat, t, $vata $
inOaaa, k. t. A. Sot.t. " QuoiKipjo visio ha;c
contingi-t, et auferotur sacrif;num, &c.*
Arab. ""Usquequo viiio, etiu"c sacrificiuin.
&c." VuW.
' Josephi Proem, do Bell. Jud. § 7,1. 1,
c. 1, § 1.
* Mr. KMc's Apnstncyof the latter times,
pari l.r.14, in his Works, b. 3, p. G59.
J 1 Hum: locum pleiicjuc nostronim ad An-
ti'.ts-i n rcfernnt: ct. quod sub Antiocho
in typr. factum est, sub illo in veritate di-
cnnl i«sc complendum.' Hieron. in loc
co!. 1106.
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259
filled in truth under Antichrist. Tim days without doubt
nro t" Iki In ken, ngrconbly to the style of Daniel in other
places., not Tor natural, Imt for prophetic, (lavs or years ; and as
tin; tpie-cion was asked, not. only hour Join; (he daily sacrifice
shall he taken away, and the tranijression of denotation conti-
nue, hut also how long the vision shall last ; so lb:; answer is to
he understood, and those two thousand and three hundred days
denote the whole time from the beginning of the vision to the
cleansing of the sanctuary. The sanctuary is not yet cleansed,
and consequently these years are not yet expired. When these
years shall be expired, then their end will clearly show from
whence their beginning is to be dated, whether from the vision
of the ram, or of the he-goat, or of the little horn. Ft. is difficult,
to fix the precise time when the prophetic dales begin, and when
they end, till the prophecies are fulfilled, and the event declares
the. certainty of them. And the difficulty is increased in this
case by reason of some variety in the copies. For the 4 Seventy
have four hundred in this place; and others, as 5 Jerome informs
n«, read tiro hundred instead of three hundred. If we follow
the reading of the Seventy, Unto two thousand and four hundred
days or years, then perhaps they are to be computed from the
vision of the ram, or the establishment of the Persian empire.
If we follow the other reading mentioned by Jerome, Unto two
thousand and two hundred days or years, then perhaps they are
to be computed from the vision of the little horn, or the Romans
invading the Grecian empire : And it is remarkable, 6 that the
Romans first passed over with an army, and made war upon
Philip king of Macedonia, just 200 years before Christ. But if
wo still retain the common reading, (which probably is the
truest and best,) "Unto two thousand and three hundred days,"
or years, then I conceive they are to be computed from the
vision of the he-goat, or Alexander's invading Asia. Alexander
invaded Asia 7 in the year of the world 3G70, and in the year
before Christ 334. Two thousand and three bundled years
from that time will thaw towards the conclusion of the sixth
millennium of the world, and about that period, according to an
old tradition, 8 which was current before our Saviour's time, and
was probably founded upon the prophecies, great changes and
revolutions are expected; and particularly as 9 Rabbi Abraham
Sebah saith, Rome is to be overthrown, and the Jews are to
4 'H/i/rj.Tt £ur^lX(at Kat TerpaKdcial. Sept.
5 ' t-iuiilam pro duobus millions trecen-
tls, duo millia ducentos legunt.' Hieron.
in loc.
6 See Usher's Annals, A. M. 3S04.
7 See Usher, Prideaux, &e.
8 See Placita Doctorum Hebneorum de
magno die judicii, et regno Messia? tunc
futuro, in Mede's Works, b. 3, p. 535, and
Plaeita Doctorum Hebra-orum de Babylonis
sen Roma? excidio, in jMede's Works, b. 5,
p. 902.
9 *R. Abraham Sebah in Gen. 1, ait,
currente sexto annorum mundi millenario
Romam evertendam, et Judaios reducen-
dos.' Ibid. p. 903.
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BISHOP NEWTON
!ic rc-tored. The filled farlhcr affirms (lie truth and certainty
of (hf vision, and of llie lime allotted for it, (vcr. 20:) "The
vision of tlic evening and the morning, which was told, is true,
wherefore shot thou up ihe vision, for ii shall he for many days."
Thr .'■hulling up of the vision implies, lhal ii should not he under-
stood of some lime; and we cannot say that ii. was sufficiently
understood, so long as Anliochus Epiphanes was taken for tin;
lit (Its horn. Tlie vision being "for m:iny days," must necessa-
rily infer a longer term, than the calamity under Antiochus of
three years, or three years and a half, or oven than the whole
time from the first beginning of the vision in Cyrus to the cleans-
ing of the sanctuary under Antiochus, which was not above 371
years. 1 Such a vision could not well he called long to Daniel,
who had seen so much longer before; and especially as the time
assigned for it is " two thousand and three hundred days,'' which
since they cannot by any account be natural days, must, needs
be prophetic days, or two thousand and three hundred years.
Such a vision may properly enough be said to he "for many
days."
Daniel was much affected with the misfortunes and afflict ions
which were to befall the church and people of God, (vcr. 27:)
"And I Daniel fainted and was sick certain days; afterwards I
rose up, and did the king's business, and I was astonished at
the vision, but none understood it." Minister, and Glaring, who
generally transcribes Minister, 2 are of opinion that Daniel was
visited by this sickness, lest he should be lifted up by the sub-
limity of the visions. I presume they thought his case some-
what like St. Paul's, (2 Cor. xii. 7,) who had "a thorn in the
flesh, (or a bodily infirmity,) lest he should be exalted above
measure through the abundance of the revelations." But it is
much more probable, that Daniel's sickness proceeded from his
grief for his religion and country : as in the former vision he
was grieved in his spirit, his cogitations much troubled him, and
his countenance changed in him, at the success of the little horn
there described. And this is another most conclusive argu-
ment, that the calamities under Antiochus Epiphanes could not.
possibly be the main end and ultimate scope of this prophecy.
For the calamities under Antiochus were of small extent and of
short duration, in comparison with what the nation had suffered,
and was then suffering under Nebuchadnezzar and his succes-
sors. Antiochus took the city, but Nebuchadnezzar burnt it
to the ground. Antiochus profaned the temple, but Nebuchad-
' Sr-fi TTshcr, PriuVmix, &c. The first
year of Cyrus was A. M. 3168, Mt.re Christ
536. Tile sanctuary was cleansed, A.
3839, before Christ lG. r >.
2 ' Et qiiml sub'lil nr <le tnnrotati'l!'' Da-
rnells, uslcnditur illatn nrooheti; wniuissam,
ne exti'llnrelur suhlimitalc visionum, quas
solus inielli»L-bat.' Munsterus. 'Etquod
do a.'.«rotatione sua (licit, ostenditur, illani
proph -i:- unmissam, ne e.xtolleretur subli-
roituv vismnuiii, qeas solus intelligebat.
Clarius.
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261
nezzar utterly destroyed it. Antiochus made captives forty
thousand of (he Jews, hut. Nebuchadnezzar carried the whole
nation into captivity. Antiochus took away the daily sacrifice
for I luce years and a half, hut Nebuchadnezzar abolished all
the temple service for seventy years. Why (hen should Daniel,
who had seen and felt these greater calamities, be so much
grieved at those lesser disasters of the nation? Present, and
sensible evils usually affect us most: and therefore that. Daniel
M as so much more affected with the future than with the pre-
sent, was astonished, and fainted, and was sick certain days, can
he ascribed to nothing, hut to his foreseeing-, that the future dis-
tress and misery of the nation would greatly exceed all that they
sustained at present. But the calamities under Antiochus were
much less, and much shorter. Those only which they suffered
from the Romans, were, greater and worse than the evils brought
on them by Nebuchadnezzar. And "the transgression of deso-
lation" hath now continued these 1700 years. They expect, and
we expect, that at. length "the sanctuary will be cleansed," and
that in God's determined time his promise will be fully accom-
plished, (Amos ix. 11, 12 ; Acts xv. 16, 17:) "I will return, and
will build again (he tabernacle of David, which is fallen down;
and I will build again (he ruins thereof, and I will set it up; that
the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gen-
tiles upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth
all these things."
This concern of Daniel, and affection for his religion and
country, show him in a very amiable light, and give an addi-
tional lustre and glory to his character. But not only in this
instance, but in every other, he manifests the same public spirit,
and appears no less eminently a patriot than a prophet. Though
he was torn early from his country, and enjoyed all the advan-
tages that he could enjoy in foreign service, yet nothing could
make him forget his native home : And in the next chapter we
see him pouring out his soul in prayer, and supplicating most
earnestly and devoutly for the pardon and restoration of his
captive nation. It is a gross mistake therefore to think, that,
religion will ever extinguish or abate our love for our country.
The Scriptures will rather incite and inflame it, exhibit several
illustrious examples of it, and recommend and enforce this, as
well as all other moral and social virtues; and especially when
the interests of true religion and of our country are so blended
and interwoven, that they cannot well be separated the one from
the other. This is a double incentive to the love of our coun-
try; and with the same zeal that every pious Jew might say for-
merly, every honest Briton may say now, with the good Psalmisl,
(Psal. exxii. 6, &c.) "O pray for the peace of Jerusalem; they
shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and
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BISHOP NEWTON
plenteousness within thy palaces. For my hrcthren and compa-
nions' sake I will wish thee prosperity : Yea, because of thj
house of the Lord our God, 1 will seek to do thee good."
XVI. — daniel's prophecy or the things noted in the scrip-
ture OF TRUTH.
IX TWO PARTS. — PART I.
IT is the usual method of the Holy Spirit to make the latter
prophecies explanatory of the former ; and revelation is, (Piov.
iv. IS,) "as the shining light that shincth more and more unto
the perfect day." The four great, empires of the world, which
wore shown to Nebuchadnezzar in the form of a great image,
were again more particularly represented to Daniel in the shape
of four great wild beasts. In like maimer, the memorable events
which were revealed to Daniel hi the vision of the ram and he-
goat, are here again more clearly and explicitly revealed in his
last vision by an angel; so that this latter prophecy may not
improperly be said to be a comment and explanation of the for-
mer. This revelation was made (x. 1) "in the third year of
Cyrus, king of Persia," when Daniel was very far advanced in
years. For the third year of Cyrus was the seventy-third of
Daniel's captivity; and being a youth when he was carried cap-
tive, he cannot be supposed now to have been less than ninety ;
and not long after this, it is reasonable to believe that he died.
Old as he was, he " set his heart to understand" the former
revelations which had been made to him, and particularly the
vision of the ram and he-goat, as I think we may collect from
the sequel : and for this purpose he prayed, and fasted three
weeks. His fasting and prayers had the desired effect ; for an
angel was sent, and said unto him, (ver. 12,) "Fear not, Daniel ;
for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to under-
stand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words are
heard, and I am come for thy words." And whoever would at-
tain the same ends, and excel in divine knowledge, must pur-
sue the same means, and habituate himseli to study, temper-
ance, and devotion. The angel declares the design of his com-
ing, (ver. 14.) "Now I am come to make thee understand what
shall befall thy people in the latter days ; for yet the vision is
for many days." This prophecy therefore contains the fate and
fortune of the people of God for many years. As it was said
before, (ver. 1,) "the thing was true, but the time appointed
was long:" and consequently this prophecy must extend far-
ther than from the third year of Cyrus to the death of Antio-
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
233
chus E] Iphanes, which was not above 370 years. 1 In reality
it comprehends many signal events aflcr dial, time to the end
of the world : hut the types and figures of the things are not
exhibited in this as in most of llic oilier visions, and then ex-
pounded hy the angel; but the angel relates the whole, and not
by way of vision, but only by narration, informs Daniel of that
which is noted in Ike Scripture of truth, (ver. 21,) "I will show
thee that which is noted in the Scripture of tiuth," as if future
events were noted in a book before God : and this prophecy,
being talcen from the Scripture of truth, is therefore deserving
of our strictest attention; and we may depend upon the cer-
tainty of all the particulars contained therein, if we can but
rightly understand and expound them.
The angel first propheiscs of the Persian empire, which was
then subsisting. "Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings
in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all ; and
by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against
the realm of Orcein," (xi. 2.) "There shall si and up yet," that
is, after Cyrus, the founder of the empire, who was then reign-
ing. "Three kings in Persia;" these were Cambyses, the son
of Cyrus; Smerdis the Magian, who pretended to be another
son of Cyrus, but was really an impostor; and Darius, the son
of Ilystnspes, who married the daughter of Cyrus. "And the
fourth shall be far richer than they all." The fourth after Cyrus
was Xerxes, the son and successor of Darius ; of whom Justin 2
truly remarks, ' If you consider this king, you may praise his
riches, not the general ; of which there was so great abundance
in his kingdom, that when rivers were dried up by his army,
yet his wealth remained unexhausted.' Pythius the Lydian 3 was
at that time the richest subject in the world. He generously
entertained Xerxes and all his army, and proffered him two
thousand talents of silver, and three millions nine hundred
ninety-three thousand pieces of gold with the stamp of Darius,
towards defraying the charges of the war. But Xerxes was so
far from wanting any supplies, that he rewarded Pythius for
his liberality, and presented him with seven thousand Darics,
to make up his number a complete round sum of four millions.
Each of these Darics 1 was worth better than a guinea of our
money. " And by his strength through his riches he shall stir
up all (both subjects and allies) against the realm of Grecia.'
"Xerxes's expedition into Greece is one of the most memorable
'The third year of Cynis was A. M. rentur, opes tamen regis superessent.' Jns
3-170. hi-lore Christ 534. Anliodms Epi- tin I. 2, c. 10.
phani-s did A. M. 3S-10, before Christ 164. 'Herod. I. 7, § 27, kc.
Bee Ufher, Pruluanx, &c. 4 Bernard de ponrierihus el mensnns
3 ' Si re;?m species, divitias, non ducem antiquis, p. 171. Prideaux Connect. Far
laudes; quarum tanta copia in regno ejus 1, b. 2, Anno 538. Darius the Mede 1.
full, ut, cum flumina multitudine consume-
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BISHOP NEWTON
adventures in ancient, history. Herodotus affirms that Xerxes 5
in raising his army searched every place of (he continent, and
it was the greatest army that ever was brought inio the field;
for what nation was there, says he, that Xerxes led not out of
Asia into Greece ] Herodotus lived in that age; and he 6 re-
counts with great exactness (lie various nations of which
Xerxes's army was composed, and computes that the whole
number of horse and foot, by land and sea, out of Asia and out
of Europe, soldiers and followers of the camp, amounted lo five
millions, two hundred eighty-three thousand, two hundred and
twenty men. Nor was Xerxes content with stirring up the east,
but was for stirring up 7 the west likewise, and engaged the Car-
thaginians in his alliance, that while he with his army over-
whelmed Greece, they might fall upon the Greek colonies in
Sicily and Italy: and the Carthaginians for this purpose not
only raised all the forces they coidd in Africa, but also hired a
great number of mercenaries in Spain, and Gaul, and Italy; so
that (heir army consisted of three hundred thousand men, and
their fleet of two hundred ships. Thus did Xerxes "stir up
all against the realm of Grecia ;" and after him no mention is
made of any other king of Persia, 'It is to be noted,' saith Je-
rome, 8 'that the prophet having enumerated four kings of the
Persians after Cyrus, siippeth over nine, and passeth to Alex-
ander ; for the prophetic spirit did not care to follow the order
of history, but only to touch upon the most famous events.'
Xerxes was the principal author of the long wars and inveterate
hatred between the Grecians and Persians ; and us he was the
last king of Persia who invaded Greece, he is mentioned last.
The Grecians then in their turn invaded Asia : and Xerxes's
expedition being the most memorable on cne side, as Alexan-
der's was on the other, the reigns of these two are not impro-
perly connected together.
Alexander is thus characterized (ver. 3,) "And a mighty king
shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do ac-
cording to his will." That Alexander was a mighty king and
conqueror; that he ruled with great dominion, not only over
Greece and the whole Persian empire, but likewise added India
to his conquests; and that he did according to liis will, none
daring, not even his friends, to contradict and oppose him, or
if they did, like Clitus and Calisthenes, paying for it with their
s Kal Zfji^n^ rod utoitov ovrui exaytoaiv
roturut, xwpoy rravra iptvvGtv ri}? iixiipov.
Xerxes aute.m ita capias, suas contraxit, ut
vmnem continents locum scTula.ret.ur. — Ertf-
Xtiiy yao, rwv jj/u?? t?.jizv, ko}.\<7> (5ij uiytoroc
ovros iyhiro. nam omnium qu.osnovimuse.r-
ercituum hie mulfo rnaximus e.rlilit. — Tt y'ip
ovk nyayt i< rrjs * he ins eOeos trt n)v 'EAXaea
E£p£?c» quam enirn ex Asia cutcra in tirwei-
am nan ailduxit Xerxes ? Herod. 1. 7, § 19-21.
c Herod, ibid. § 60, &c. 184, &c.
' Diod. Sic. 1. 11, c. 1.
°'Notamlum quod quatuor post Cvrum
realms Pcrsamm enumeralis, novem prifc-
terierit, et transient ad Alexandrum. Non
enim cura? fuit ppirhui proplielali Mstoriae
ordinem seqtii ; sed prarclara qntr-que per-
stringere.' Hieron. in loc. col. 1121.
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
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lives ; are fads too well known lo require any particular proof
or ill usl ration.
lint his kingdom was soon to he broken and divided, (ver. 4:)
"And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall he broken,
in iil shall he divided towards (he four winds of heaven ; and not.
to his posterity, nor according to Ids dominion which he ruled:
for his kingdom shall he plucked up even for others besides
those." These particulars were in good measure suggested
before, (viii. 8, 22:) " Me waxed very great, anil w hen he was
strong, the great horn was broken ; and for il came up four no-
tahle ones towards the four winds of heaven. Now that being
broken, whereas four stood up for il, four kingdoms shall stand
up out of the nation, but not in his power." Alexander died
in Ibtbylon, 9 having lived only thirty-two years and eight
months, of which he reigned twelve years and eight months.
In so short a time did this sun of glory rise and set : and in
the space of about fifteen years afterwards his family and pos-
terity became extinct, and chiefly by the means of Cassander.
It was soon after Alexander's death, that his wife Statha, the
daughter of Darius, 1 was murdered out of jealousy hy his other
wife Roxana; and her body was thrown into a well, and earth
cast upon it. His natural brother Aridieus, who succeeded him
in the throne by the name of Philip, 2 was together with his wife
Eurydice killed by the command of Olympias the mother oi
Alexander, after he had borne the title of king six years and
some months: and not long after Olympias 3 herself was slain
in revenge by the soldiers of Cassander. Alexander JEgus,
the son of Alexander by Roxana, as soon as he was born, was
joined in the title of king with Philip Aridteus; and when he
had attained to the fourteenth year of bis age/ he and his
mother were privately murdered in the castle of Amphipolis hy
order of Cassander. In the second year after this, 5 Hercules,
the other son of Alexander by Rarsine the widow of Menmon,
was also with his mother privately murdered by Polvsperehon,
induced thereto hy the great oilers made to him by Cassander.
Such was the miserable end of Alexander's family: and then
the governors made themselves kings each in his province, from
which title they had abstained, 6 as long as any just heir of
Alexander was surviving. Thus was Alexander's kingdom
" broken and divided not to his posterity," but was " plucked up
even for others besides those:" and it was "divided towards
3 'EfHu) &l cva mi TpiaKQvra sttj, Ktti rou 3 Diod. Sic. I. 19, c. 5. Jusiin. 1. 14, c. 6.
ralruv pV'i; tr.iSaliev (kri. w$ \tyei 'Aptcr-d- Pausanias licfot. «ive lili. 9, o. 7.
4 Diod. Sic. 1. 19, c. 105. Justin. !. 15, c. 2.
Pausanias, 1. 9, c. 7.
* Diud. Sic. 1.20, c. 2S. Justin, ibid. Pau-
sanias, ibid.
»Diod. Sic. 1. 19,0.11. Justin. 1. 14, c. 5.
1 Plutarch. Alex. § 77.
6 — l Q.uoad Alexandre- justus hcres fuiL
Jusiin. 1. 25, c. 2.
23
21
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BISHOP NEWTON
the four win 1- <»f heaven ;" for four of his eaplains=, as it hath
been shown in former dissertations, prevailed over the test, and
C'n--- m.icr reigned in Greece and the tec.il, Lysimachus in Thrace
mid i he nnrth, Ptolemy in Egypt and t Lie south, and Seleucus in
S\ :' <i and tlie cast.
:!;:! though tlii; kingdom of Alexander was divided into four
p:i;>;'ipal parts, yet only two of them have a place allotted in
i!i;s prophecy, Egypt and Syria. These two were hy far the
greatest and most considerable : and these two at one time
were in a manner the only remaining kingdoms of the four;
the 7 kingdom of Maeedon having been conipiered by Lysima-
c bus and annexed to Thrace ; and Lysimachus 8 again having
been coiupiered by Seleucus, and the kingdoms of Maeedon and
Thrace annexed to Syria. These two likewise continued dis-
tinct kingdoms, after the others were swallowed up by the
power of the Romans. But there is a more proper and pecu-
liar reason for enlarging upon these two particularly ; 9 because
Judea lying between tbein was sometimes in the possession of
the kings of Egypt, and sometimes of the kings of Syria; and
it is the purpose of Holy Scripture, to interweave only so much
of foreign affairs as hath some relation to the Jews : and it is
in respect of their situation to Judca, that the kings of Egypt
and Syria are called the kings of the south and the north.
'•Ami the king of the south shall be strong, (vcr. 5,) and one
of his princes,"' (that is, of Alexander's princes,) "and be shall
be strong above him." There is manifestly either some redun-
dance, or sonic detect 1 in the Hebrew copy : which should be
rendered as it is by the Seventy, * Ami the ting of the south shall
ha strong, and one of Ms princes shall be strong above him : or per-
haps may better be rendered thus, And the king of the south
shall he strong, and one of his princes ; and the king of the north
shall be strong above him, and have dominion ; his dominion shall
be a great dominion. The king of the south was indeed very
strong; for Ptolemy 3 had annexed Cyprus, Phoenicia, Caria,
and many islands, and cities, and regions to Egypt, as Jerome
here commemorates out of the ancients. He had likewise en-
larged the bounds of his empire, as Justin testifies, by the ac-
" Jusiin. 1. IG, c. 3. Plutarch, in Pv-rrho,
vj 12. Pausanitis in Attic, sivu I. i, c. 10.
» Justin, I. 17, c. 1 et 2. Apphm de Bell.
fSvr. c. til. Mcmnonis Excerpla apud Pho-
tiuin, e. 0.
3 l I'!.- : -co aiitcm cajtera re:;na dimit-
1<ris. Mi,;. JnniiP. videliret ct A -ia>, tan-
On, i d.- .I'.jvjju ?t Syria; narrat n^ibnx:
(.iiia in iifilij Jmlaa posita, nunc ah il'is,
r. - !ito ah His, regihus lenobatnr. Ki scrip-
ture :.arjf:t:f: proposilinn est, rem exlernam
absque Judads historian! texere; sed cam
(\nx Israeli popnlo copulata est.' Hicron
in loo. col. 1 122.
' Either the i in p\-m is redundant, or the
words 1^5 |is5n r.rc wanting.
3 Kai tU ruv dpxfoTijiv uvtuv ivttrxvvct fir
avrif. Sept.
3 — 'Ad /F.cvptum adjecerat Cyprum,
Plujfnieen, Cariarn, aliascpie insulas et
r, _'i,ines, lit hie ex anlirjuis cormnemorat
Jlieronvrnus.' Grot. The. words in Je-
rome are, 'el niultas insulas urhcsipio et
regioue-s.
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
267
uuisition of Cyrcnc, 4 and was now become so great, that lie was
in a condition not so much to fear, as to he feared by his ene-
mies. Hut still the king of the north, or Sclcucus Nicator, was
strong above him; for having annexed, as wc have seen, the
kingdoms of Macedon and Thrace to the crown of Syria, he was
become master of three parts out of four of Alexander's domi-
nions. All historians agree in representing him not only as the
longest liver of Alexander's successors, but likewise as the
conqueror of the conquerors. 5 Appian 6 in particular enume-
rates the nations which he subdued, and the cities which he
built, and affirms that after Alexander ho possessed the largest
part of Asia; for all was subject to him from Phrygia up lo ike
river Indus, and beyond it: and afterwards 7 he denominates
him expressly, ' the greatest king of Alexander.'
Seleucus Nicator, 3 having reigned seven months after the
death of Lysimachus, over the kingdoms of Macedon, Thrace,
and Syria, was basely murdered; and to him succeeded in (he
throne of Syria his son Antiochus Suter, and to Antiochus
Soter succeeded his son Antiochus Theus. At the same time
Ptolemy Philadelphia reigned in Egypt after his father, the
first Ptolemy, the son of Lagns. There were frequent wars
between the kings of Egypt and Syria. There were so particu-
larly between Ptolemy Philadelphia the second king of Egypt,
and Antiochus Theus the third king of Syria. "And in "the
end of years they shall join themselves together ; for the king's
daughter of the south shall come to the king of the north to
make an agreement : but she shall not retain the power of the
arm, neither shall he stand, nor his arm ; but she shall be given
up, and they that brought her, and he that begat her, and he that
strengthened her in these times," (ver. 6.) "And in the end of
years," that is, after several years ; for these wars lasted long,
'Jerome reports out of the ancients, and Antiochus Theus fought
against Ptolemy Philadelphia with all the forces of Babylon
and the east. "They shall join themselves together," or "shall
associate themselves : At length they agreed to make peace upon
4 — 'Terminos quoquo imperii aoqmsita
Cyrene urbe ampliaverat, factusque jam
taiitus erat, ut non tam timeret quam ti-
mendus ipse h.03tibus esset.' Justin. 1. 13.
c. 6.
s — 1 Victoremque victorum exstitisse —
Justin. 1. 17, c. 2.
s Appian. de Bell. Syr. c. 55. 'S2t wp/ai
r^fa fidXtara ptrci 1 'A\e\avSpov rijf 'Aaias
rb ~\eov' avb yap fopvylas eni ^ora^bv 'h^ov
oi'tt), w4rra 2Ert£0K({j KarrjKovf Kai rbv 'IvSbv
TTtp&aas, k. r. A. Quo except*) [Alexandra]
nemo uwptam phtres terms in Asia tenuit :
nam a Phrl/giai tcrminis Indum usque medi-
terranea Scleuco parebant omnia : et hoc quo*
que trajecto, tyc. Vide etiam, o. o!i. fin.
* — BaciXta Ttuv #Vi 'AAflfi'i'fyw uiyitnov.
— Re.gem post Alcxandrum maximum. ibid
c. 61.
8 'Quippe post menses admodum septem,
&c.' Justin. 1. 17, c. 2, S 4. Appian. de
Bell. Syr. c. 62.
9 'Iste adversus Ptolemreum Philadel-
phum, qui secutldus imperabat iE^ypiiis
gesset bella quam plurima: et totis B.tbvlo
nls atque orientis viribus dimicuvit.' Iiieron
Comment, in loc. col. 1123.
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BISHOP NEWTON
conditio!), that 'Anliochus Thens should put away his former
wife L;io<lice and her two sons, and should marry Perenice (he
(biu^bier of Ptolemy Philadelphia. " For the king's daughter
of (he south shall conic to the kin<* of llie north lo make an
agreement," or rights: and accordingly 2 Ptolemy Philadelphia
bi'oupjil his daughter to Anlioclms Thens, and with her an im-
mense treasure, .so (hat, he received the appellation of the floury-
ginr. " Hut she shall not. retain (lie power of the arm," that
is, her interest and power with Anlioclms; for 3 after some time,
in a fit. of love, he hroughl back Ins former wife Laodice with
her children to court again. "Neither shall he stand, nor his
arm," or his seed; for 4 Laodi<*c, fearing the fickle temper of her
1 1 us! ta) id, lest he should recall Berenice, caused him to be
poisoned; and neither did his seed by Berenice succeed him
in the kingdom, but Laodice contrived and managed matters
so as to lix her eldest, son Seleucus Callinicus on the throne
of his ancestors. "Hut she shall he given up;" for Laodice
not content, with poisoning her husband, 5 caused also Berenice
to be murdered, " And they that brought her ;" for her
6 Egyptian women and attendants, endeavouring to defend her,
were many of them slain with her. "And he that begat her,"
or rather as it is in the margin, he whom she brought forth; for
7 the son was murdered as well as the mother, by order of Lao-
dice. "And be that strengthened her in these times;" her
husband Anlioclms, as 8 Jerome conceives ; or those who took
her part and defended her; or rather her father who died a
little before, and was so very fond of her, 9 that he took care
continually to send her fresh supplies of the water of the Nile,
thinking it better for her to drink of that than of any other river,
as Polybius relates.
1 ' Vol ens itaqne PtolemrrMts Plnlailcl-
plius jvist multos annos nmlestum finiru cer-
tamcn, ("ilium suam nomine Hercnicen, An-
tiochd uxorcm tit; dit ; <|tii de priore uxore
nomine Laodice, habebat duos filios, &c.'
Iliuron. Comment, in loc. col. 1123.
' 2 ' IVduxilque cam usque Pelusium ; et
inl'miia auri ct ar^nili millia, dot in ivnmrie,
tledit : Undo, ^rpvotpApoft id est, dotali.t, ap-
pcllalus est.' itii-nm. ibid.
- 1 — "• Po<t. imillimi lemports amorc. supera*
■ us, 1 ,:iudir-cn nun tiberis suis rcduxil in
riijjKiNi.' llii ron. ibid.
4 1 Quit: nietnens ambi^uitm virt animnm
Ti o Hercnicen reducerel, viruni per minis-
tros M iiciio intcrfecit, &c.' Ilu'ron. ibid.
Appiiui. tic Hell. Svr. c. 65, 06. Valcr.
Maximum, I. 0, c. U." Plin. I. 7, § 10.
b Micron, ibid. Appian. ibid. Polyjfcni
Slrat. i. 8, c. . r .0.
e Hicron. ibid. At ct &\*^ ovtiiv yvi'atiect
tircpaoTrl^ovaai TrpovairfOavov a\ Tr\si6vt$.
Qute vera circa earn erant mulieris defensiu-
ncin par antes t plurimcc cccidcrutit. Poivlu-
nus, ibid.
* Ilieron. ibid. Appian. ibid. Polyaen.
ibid. Justin. 1. 27, c. 1.
8 'Rex quoque Antioolms qui conforta-
bat cam, hoc est, per quern put « rat pr»i-
valure, veneno uxoris occisus est.' Iiieron.
ibid.
9 Kat h tTiz AtyvnTov i5f &acr(\cbg &£vrtpos t
b •I'lAi/rVXi/'iJc (VikAi/v, f'uSov; ri\v altoTi Ovya-
Tf'pti \leptviicyv *Avr(4^(jj r<j3 Xvptas ftafftXsi, iv
tirtftEXiui tiyt ir//tiretv ahrfi t6 aro rod Tirfhov
GrVp, fl'rt fA'il'OV TQilTOV TOU TTOTtljJlOU 7ru7f
b tvii ' inTuftil lioXvfitOi. Pt»lvnia:iis scniHflus
jk,aypti rix, cognmnine Philatlcljiltm, cum
JilitiM Jlcrrtiiccn Antiorho regi Syria? iivptum
fiejlixmi) wtiti ttdam ad ipxam JVdi aquam se-
rf u/n cttmvit, ut ram salnm gnata Inherit, quod
l*ulyhiu$ scripsil. Athcnajus, 1. 2, c. 6, p. 45.
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
269
But such wickedness should not. pass unpunished and unrc-
venged. "But out of a branch of la i mot one stand up
in his (*•-' it (or rather il i< translated ' in (In: Vulgai Latin,
tml nf a hntiv 'a of her root shell .v.'.f/ni vp a jihi.it ;) and ho t-liall
come with an army, and s! k; ! 1 enter inlo the fortress (or the
fninil cilir<) oi' the king of the north, and shall ileal (ahull acl)
against ihem and shall prevail: And shall also cany captives
inlo Euypt, (heir gods with their princes, (or rather 1 their gods
villi I heir molten images,) and with their precious vessels of sil-
ver and of gold, and lie shall continue more years loan the king
of the north, (or more literally lie shall continue seme years after
the king of the north.) So the king' of the south shall come into
his kingdom, and shall return inlo his own land," (vcr. 7, 8, D.)
This branch which sprung out of the same root with Berenice,
" r as Ptolemy Eucrgetes her brother, who no sooner succeeded
his father Ptolemy Philadelphia in the kingdom, than 3 he came
with a great army, and entered into the produces of the Ling of the
north, that, is of Seleucus Callinicus, who with his mother Lao-
dice reigned in Syria : and he acted against them, and prevailed
so far, that he took Syria and Cilicia, and the upper parts be-
yond Euphrates!, and almost, all Asia. And when he heal heard
that a sedition was raised in Egypt, he plundered the kingdom
of Seleucus, and took forty thousand talents of silver and pre-
cious vessels and images of ihc gods, two thousand and five hun-
dred : among which were also those which Cambyscs, after
he had taken Egypt, had carried into Persia. And for thus
restoring their gods after many years, the Egyptians, who were
a nation much addicted to idolatry, complimented him with the
title of Eiwgetes, or the benefactor. This is Jerome's account,
extracted from ancient historians: but there are authors still
extant, who confirm several of the same particulars. Appian
informs us that 4 Laodice having killed Antiochus, and after
him both Berenice and her child, Ptolemy the son of Philadel-
phia to revenge these murders invaded Syria, slew Laodice,
1 " Et stabit dc germine radicum ejus
plantatio." Vulg.
a <l Deos eorum et sculptilia." Vulg. Tcuj
0£t>i>s avrwv pEra twi> x<"»i'£ur<I>i' airiUv. Sept.
B Deos eorum cum fusilibus eorum." Arab.
3 — 1 De plantatione et de genuine ra-
dices ejus, eo <|iiod esset gcrmanus: et
venit cum exercifu magno, et ingressus
est provinciam regis aquilonis, id est, Se-
tcuci cognomento Callinici, qui cum matre
Laodice regnabat in Syria: et abusus est
eis ; et ubtimiit, in tanlum ut Syriam ca-
peret, el Ciliciam, superioresque partes
trans Euphraten, et propemodum univer-
sam Asiam. Quumque audisset in Egyp-
to sedilionem moveri, diripiens regnum
Seleuci, quadraginta mittia tatentorum ar-
23*
genti tutit, et vnsa preliosa simulacraque
deorum, duo millia quingenta: in quibus
eri« nl. et ilia quae Cambyses capla .lEirypto,
in Persas poriavcrat. Denique gens AZgvp-
tiorium idolotatriae dediia. quia post muftos
annos deos, eorum retuleral, Eucrgetcn eum
appellavit.' Hieron. ad toe.
* Hat ahrbv Iktcivc AnocfVr/, Kat fV ixcivtp
Brpen'Kr/v rt Kat to UiptvUm 0pfyos. Kaillry-
Af/ialof o TOv 'Pt\a$t\ T <ov TuvTa Tivviflivos,
AaO^lKJJV TE CKTttVC, Kttl f? TvplQV fVf'SuAt, Kat
it Ba$v\&va r/Aa<7£. Laodice ipsum mterfecit,
el mox Bcrenicem cum infantuio. £am in~
juriam Ptolemarus Philadelphi Jiliu.%, ut ul-
cisceretur, de Laodice sumpsit svppticium, et
ingressu-t Syriam, Babylonem usque perventt.
Appian. de Bel). Syr. c. 65.
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BISHOP NEWTON
and proceeded as far as to Babylon. From Poly bi us we learn,
that 5 Piok-.ny surnamed Euergetes, being greatly incensed at
the cruel treatment of his sister Berenice, marched with an
army into Syria, and took the city of Soleucia, which was kept,
for wine years afterwards by the garrisons of the kings of
Egypt. Thus did he "enter into the fortress of the king of the
north." Polyamus affirms, that 6 Ptolemy made himself master
of all the country from mount Taurus as far as to India without
war or battle : but he ascribes it by mistake to the father in-
stead of the son. Justin asserts, that 7 if Ptolemy had not been
recalled by a domestic sedition into Egypt, he would have pos-
sessed the whole kingdom of Selcucus. So the king of the south
came into the kingdom of the north, and then returned into Jus own
land. He likewise continued more years than the king of the
north ; for Seleucus Catlinicus 8 died in exile of a fail from Ids
horse, and Ptolemy Euergetcs 9 survived him about four or five
years.
BiU his sous, that is the sons of the king of the north, should
endeavour to vindicate and avenge the cause of their father
and their country. "But his sons shall be stirred up, arid
shall assemble a multitude of great forces ; and one shall cer-
tainly come, and overflow, and pass through ; then shall he
return, and be stirred up even to his fortress," (ver. 10.) The
sons of Seleucus Callinicus were 1 Seleucus and Antioclms ;
the elder of whom, Seleucus, succeeded him in the throne,
and to dLiiinjpikii him from others of the same name, was
denominated Csratmits or the thimderer. Where by the way
one cannot help observing the ridiculous vanity of princes in
assuming or receiving such pompous appellations without de-
serving them. Seleucus the father was surnamed Callinicus or
the. famous conqueror, though he was so far from gaining any
considerable victory, that he was shamefully beaten by the
Egyptians in the west, and was made a prisoner by the Par-
tisans in the east. In like manner Seleucus the son was called
Ccraunus or the thimderer, though he was so far from perform-
ing any thing worthy of the name, that lie was a poor and
YtuOui '/<fioi'o;(7i t'Tri 7t*ii i£ AtytiTTov fiaciMtaVj
rwi ; Kuril 7u;. i'jVinyinjV nTlK\>lQ!v~ii Uto^c-
uiuov KUtttWV, Iv oi<; txilvog in) tu BcpEl'fr^f
GVjJ.KTUij/>.ra t Kai T/'/r tr/ip tKlivrii 6py>iv t crpa-
Ttvaas c'ts robs Kara £upmy ru-uvs, tyKpaT/j;
lyfoLTO ruurqs tii$ ryAtw?. A'lltuc ilia Utn~
pestate return yE^i/pii jirasidiis Wicbalur
Sr.leuci,a, jam inrle ah illia tcmporibus, cum
l'tolem&wt cognomenlo EuergetOj propter
cusum Berenices Scleuco re^i irntim, belh
Syriaz tilcdo, ea urbe est potitus. Polyb. 1. 6,
c. 58.
6 'Axo tov Tacpov /*f%pi rJJs 'IvfitKtjs x<*ipac
vo\ipov ic/it ft'txi'S eno-.irijfrs. A Tanrousnue
ad Indiam ahfjue bt.Uo ac pugna svptravit.
Poly.vni Strut. I. 8, c. 00.
^ ' 1 Qui nisi in jEgyptum domestic^ sedi-
tione revocutus esset, lolum regnutn Selouci
occupassct. 1 Justin. 1. 27, c. I.
" Justin. 1. 27, c. 3.
9 See Usher, Prideaux, Blair and other
chrono! opei's.
1 'Post fugam et mortem Selenci Cal-
tinici, duo filii ejus Seleucus cognomento
Ceraunus, et Antioehus qui appetlatus est
Magnus, &c.' Hieron. in loc. col. 1124.
Polyb. 1. 4,c. 48. Appian. de Bell. Syr. c. 66.
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271
weak pii i ico in respect!?, in mind and body and estate. Great
and splendid titles, when improperly applied, are rather a sal it o
and insult, upon the persons, than any honour or commenda-
tion. S'leucus Ceraunus was indeed stirred vp, and assembled a
multitude of great forces, in order to recover his lather's dominions ;
but 2 being destitute of money, and unable to keep his army
in obedience, he was poisoned by two of his generals, after an
inglorious reign of two or three years. Upon his decease his
brother Antiochus Magnus was proclaimed king, who was
more deserving of the title of great, than Selcucus was of that
of the thundercr. The prophet's expression is very 3 remarkable,
(hat " his sons should be stirred up, and assemble a multitude of
great forces but then the number is changed, and only " one
should certainly come, and overflow, and pass through." Ac-
cordingly 1 Antiochus came with a great arm}', retook Sclcucia,
and by the means of Thcodotus the iEtolian recovered Syria,
making himself master of some p'aces by treat}', and of others by
force of arms. Then 5 after a truce, wherein both sides treated
of peace, hut prepared for war, Antiochus returned, and overcame
in battle Ktcolaus the Egyptian general, and had thoughts of
invading Egypt itself.
The king of Egypt at that time was Ptolemy Philopator,
who was 8 advanced to the crown upon the death of his father
Euergetes, not long after Antiochus Magnus succeeded his
brother in the throne of Syria. This Ptolemy was 7 a most
luxurious and vicious prince, but was roused at length by the
near approach of danger. "And the king of the south shall
be moved with c holer, and shall come forth and fight with
him, even with the king of the north : and he shall set forth a
great multitude, but the multitude shall be given into his
hand," (ver. 11.) Ptolemy Philopator was, no doubt, "moved
with choler" for the losses which he had sustained, and for the
revolt of Thcodotus and others. And he " came forth ;" he
2 HiklVKOl jJlV tVj, iloQciU Tf Sl'Tt *7(i Tfl'rt-
fff'np, fc'iat ivcTrtid)) tuv erpardv C\0VTt, fVc-
itOtlXtVCtlV 01 <p(\ut hit ^fl/J/ftfcbH', Kill fV IT3J
Ho nova IfjuciXcvczv. Meteucus ncc l't7f/M-
ttinr Jir/mts ncc ojnbus, cum crtrcitusn in
officio, continere nan po.wt, vencnu sublutua
est purpuratnrvm pcrjidiu, jiost exactu/n Tcgni
amwm ntttrum. Apniaii. ibid. 'Quum-
que Seleucus major t'rater, tertio anno im-
perii esset oceisus in Phrygia, per dolum
Nicanoris ct Anaturii, &c.' Hieron. ibid.
Polyb. ibid.
3 L Rt propterea nunc infert, quod duo
quidem iilii provocati sunt, et con^re.ia-
verunt multitudinem exercituum plurinio-
rum : sed quod unus Antiochus Magnus
venerit de Babvlone in Svriam, &c.' Kioron.
ibid.
4 Polvb. 1. 5. c. CI. Hieron. ibid.
5 Polyb. ibid. r. 68, 69. Qmimqiie fraa-
nasset adversum duces ejus, imo proditione
Theodoti oblinuissct Syria™, qua' per suc-
cessioncm jam a rcgibus .ffigypti teneha-
tur, in tantam venit audaciam contempt a
luxiuia Philopatoris — lit ultrb iEgypliis
betlr.m conaretur inferre. Hieron.' ibid.
Antiochus rex Syria 1 , veteri inter se reg-
norum odio stimnlantc, reperitino bello
nmltas urbes ejus [Ptotema?i] opprcssit, ip-
samquc/Egyptum aggreditur.' Justin. 1.30,
c. 1.
€ Ploiema?us in Can. Eusebius in Chron.
Usher, Prideaux, and the chronoloeers.
' Potvb. 1. 5, c. 34. Strabo, 1. 17, p. 1 146.
Ptutarch. in Cleomene, § 33. Justin. 1. 30,
c. 1.
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272
BISHOP NEWTON
marched oul of Egypt with a numerous army to oppose the
enemy,* a;ul encamped not far from llaphia, which is the near-
est town i.i Egypt from llhonoeorura. And there 'no "fought
with him, eve. i wilh the king of l!ic north ;" for thither likewise
came Antioehus with his army, 3 anil ii memorable battle was
fought by the two kings. "And he. (the king- of the north)
set firth a great multitude;" Polybius halh 1 recited t lie va-
rious nations of which Anliochu.s's army was composed, and
all together it amounted (o sixty-two thousand fool, six thou-
sand horse, and 102 elephants. Put yet "the multitude was
given into his hand," that is, into the hand of the king of the
south; for Ptolemy obtained a complete victory: 2 and of
Antioehus's army there was slain not much fewer than ten
thousand foot, more than three hundred horse, and above four
thousand men were taken prisoners ; whereas of Ptolemy's
there was killed only fifteen hundred foot, and seven bundled
horse. Upon this defeat 3 llaphia and the neighbouring towns
contended who should he most forward to submit to the con-
queror; and Antioehus was forced to retreat with his shattered
army to Antioch, and from thence sent ambassadors to solicit
a peace.
Ptolemy Philopator was more fortunate in gaining a victory,
than prudent in knowing how to make a proper advantage of
it. "And when he halh taken away the multitude, his heart
shall be lifted up, and he shall cast down many ten thousands;
but he shall not be strengthened by it," (ver. 12.) If Ptolemy
had pursued the blow that he had given, it is 4 reasonably pre-
sumed that he might have deprived Antioehus of his kingdom;
but " his heart was lifted up" by his success ; being delivered
from his fears, he now mere freely indulged his lusts ; and after
a few menaces and complaints he granted peace to Antioehus,
*,hat he might be no more interrupted in the gratification of his
appetites and passions. lie had before 5 murdered his father,
and his mother, and his brother ; and now 6 he killed his wife,
8 Polyb. 1. 5, c. SO. Hieron. ibid.
• Polyb. ibid. Slrabo, I. 16, p. 1102.
Hieron. ibid.
1 Polyb. 1. 5, c. 70. Km Tin uiv \vTt6\oo
ovvdueux to r\?,0'is i/i', "c^oi jitv i%aKiGuunioi
Kai cW^i'Atot, abv 6i Toorots trreis l^nKiaxt-
Xwt, Sripi* ci cWi ttA:ko tCiv tKar6u. Summa
totius cxercitus Altlinrld ; pcd'Uum duo et scjc-
aginta mi'dia; equitum sex; elephand duo su-
pra centum.
3 'Hffav ?<€ ol TtTl\evTnK6Tts T&v ff«p'
'Ai/ncl^uu, irc^ot uiv oh iroAii Xiinovres /.unfwv,
Inireis ce ir^duvs rpiaKoaiuiv' e^wyptia cV r'aAw-
aav inzep Toils TCTpaKiox^tois. — Tuiv de Tana
UroXcuaiuVj xe^oi uiv els x'A/ouy Kai tzvtoko-
crtovs tTsbeurrjoav, (7nr£?s 6f els ixraKooiovs*
Desideravit aulem e suis Antioehus non multo
paueiores decern millibus pfdilum: equitcs
treeentus et eo plures : capti sunt vivi supra
qualuoT millia. — E Ptolemaicis occisi sunt
pedites milk et nuingenti ; equitcs septingenti.
Potyb. I. 5, c. 86. ' Inito croo cerlamine
juxta oppidum liapliicp, quod in foribus
jEfiypli est, onincm Antioehus amisil exer-
ciluui, &c.' Hieron. ibid.
3 Polyb. ibid. ' Quumque cessisset
Syria, ad extremum fupdere, et quibnsdam
eondilionibus pugna finita est.' Hieron.
ibid.
4 Justin. 1. 30, c. 1. 'Spoliassetque
regno Antiochum, si fortunam virtute ju-
vissei.' Polyb. 1. 5, c. 87.
* Justin. 1. 29, c. 1. Polyb. 1. 5, c. 34.
' Justin. 1. 30, c. 1. Polyb. I. 15, c. 25,
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
273
who was also his sister; mill 7 gave himself up entirely to the
liiuiiaiiciin'iit of Agathoelea his harlot, and her brother Agatho-
clcrf who was liis catamite, ami lln ir mother Oenanlhe who
was his bawd. And 3 so forgetful of all the greatness of his
name and majesty, he consumed his days in fea.-ling, and his
nights in lewdness; and became not only the spectator, but
the masier and leader of all wickedness. And whal availed it
to have co'vptcred his enemies, when he was thus overcome
by his vices? he was so far from being "strengthened by it,"
that even 9 his own subjects, o'lended at his inglorious peace,
and more inglorious life, rebelled against him. Hut the pro-
phet in (his passage alluded more particularly to the case of his
own countrymen. After the retreat of Antioehus, Ptolemy
visited the cities of Ccele-Syria and Palestine, 1 which had sub-
mitied to him : and among others in his progress he came to
Jerusalem. He there oilercd sacrifices, and was desirous of
entering into the holy of holies, contrary to the cusloni and
religion of the place, being (as the " writer of the third book of
.Maccabees says) greatly lifted up by pride and confidence,
liis curiosity was restrained with great difficulty, and he de-
parted with heavy displeasure against the whole nation of the
.Jews. At his return therefore lo Alexandria, he began a cruel
persecution upon the Jewish inhabitants of that city, who had
resided there from the time of Alexander, and enjoyed the privi-
leges of the most favoured citizens. " And he cast down many
ten thousands;" for it appears from Eusebius, 3 that about this
time forty thousand Jews were slain, or sixty thousand as they
are reckoned in Jerome's Latin interpretation. No king could
be strengthened by the loss of such a number of useful subjects.
The loss of so many Jews, and the rebellion of the Egyptians,
added to the mal-administration of the state, must certainly
very much weaken, and almost totally ruin the kingdom.
Peace was to continue between the two crowns of Egy
and Syria for some years, and then the king of the north should
attempt another invasion. "For the king of the north shall
return, and shall set forth a multitude greater than the former,,
and shall certainly come, after certain years (at the end of these,
times, that is, years) with a great army, and with much riches, 5 '
(ver. 13.) The following events, you see, were not to take
* Plutarch in Cleomene, § 33. Poljb.
[. 15, passim. Juslm. 1. 30, c. 1 et 2.
8 'Atque ita omnem magnitudinem no-
minis ac majestatis oblitus, noctes in stupris,
dies in conviviis cunsumit — nec jam spec-
tator rex, scd magister nequitias. Justin,
ibid. c. 1 .
» Polyb. I. 6. c. 107.
1 For these particulars the third book o
Maccabees must be consulted.
2 "YfipEi Kal 5pa'p£t pcydXus Irrtip/jivov. 3
Mace. ii. 21.
3 'lovialoi \rj$6[i'Tts, TtcaapaKovra x^tdtai
hv^irdv anoHa^ti/Jtvoi. Eusebii Chron. p.
185. ' Victi Juda?i : et lx millia armatorum
ex numero eorura CEesi.' Interprete Hieron
p. 143.
2 K
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274
BISHOP NEWTON
place till "after certain years;" and the peace continued be
iweon the two crowns 4 about fourteen years. In that time
Ptolemy Philopator 5 died of intemperance and debauchery,
and was succeeded by his son Ptolemy Epiphanes, a child of
four or five years old. Antiochus too, 6 having taken and slain
the rebel Acinous, and having- 7 also reduced and settled the
eastern pails in their obedience, was at leisure to prosecute any
enterprise, and could no! let slip so favourable an opportunity of
extending his dominion.?. lie had acquired great riches, and
collected many forces in Ids eastern expedition; so that he was
enabled to "set. forth a greater multitude than the former," and
lie doubted not to have an easy victory over an infant, king.
Polybius expressly informs us, 8 that from the king of Bactria
and from the king of India he received so many elephants as
made up his number 150, besides provisions and riches. Jerome
out of ancient authors affirms, 9 that he gathered together an
incredible army out of the countries beyond Babylon ; and con-
trary to the league he marched with this army, Ptolemy Philo-
pator being dead, against his son, who was then four years old,
and was called Ptolemy Epiphanes, or the illustrious. Justin
also says, 1 that Ptolemy Philopator king of Egypt being dead,
in contempt of the childhood of his son, who being left heir to
the kingdom was a prey even to his domestics, Antiochus king
of Syria resolved to take possession of Egypt; as if the thing were
as easily executed as resolved.
But Antiochus was not the only one who rose up against
young Ptolemy. Others also confederated with him. "And
in those times there shall man)' stand up against the king of
the south : also the robbers of thy people shall exalt themselves
to establish the vision, hut they shall fall," (ver. 14.) Aga-
thocles 2 was in possession of the young king's person ; and he
was so dissolute and proud in the exercise of his power, that
the provinces which before were subject to Egypt rebelled, and
Egypt itself was disturbed by seditions ; and the people of
Alexandria rose up in a body against Agathoclcs, and caused
4 See Usher, Pndeaux, and the chronolo-
gcrs.
5 Ptolem. in Canonc, Euscbius, Justin. I.
30, c. 2. Hieron. Sec.
" Polyb. 1. 8, c. 23.
' Polyb. 1. 10 et 11. Appian. de Bell. Syr.
in principle.
* Kul Xafiuv Ai^aiTa?, wars yti'hOal rove
axal/Tas its IKa.'jv Kiu Tt£VTtjKOVTa t K. T. A. Ibi
qwtque elephantOH alios accepit, vt jam centum
'pdnriuaqiiUa. bestias haberet, fyc. Polyb. 1.
li, c. 34.
9 — 1 Incredibilem de supcrioribus lncis
Babylonis excrcitum congregavit. Et Pto-
lemtto Philopatore mortuo adversum filiuin
ejus, qu tunc quatuor annorum erat, et
vocabatur Ptolcmtcus 'Exttliavris, rupto fre-
dere movit excrcitum. 1 Hieron. in loc. col.
1124.
1 'Mortuo Ptolemrco Philopatore rege
JEgy\)U, contemp'.aque parvuii filii ejus
estate, qui in spem regni relictus prredce
etiain doinesticis crat, Antiochus rex SyriiB
occuparc ^Egyptum statuit.' Justin. 1. 31,
c. 1.
2 Polyb. 1. 15, c. 25. 'Tanta; enim
dissoluljonis et superbire Agathocles fuit,
ut subditre prius JKaypio provincial rebel-
larent ; ipsaque iEjryptus seditionibus vex-
aretur.' Hieron. in loc. Justin. 1. 30, c. 2
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ON THE PROPHECIES.
275
him, and -ister, and mother, ami llirir associates, to be put
to death. Philip ton, the king of Mart-don, 3 entered into a
league with A ill iochus, to divide Ptolemy's dominions between
ihi'in, and each lo t a Ice (lie, parts which lay nearest and most
convenient lo him. And (his is the meaning, us Jerome con-
clude.-:, 4 of the. prophet's saying, I lint many shall rise up toge-
ther against, the king of the south. "Also (In; robbers of thy
people." It is literally 5 the sons of the breakers, the sons of the
revolters, the factious and refractory ones, of thy people.; for
the Jews were at. that time broken into factions, part adhering
to the king of Egypt, and part lo (he king of Syria; but the
majority were for breaking aieay from (heir allegiance to Pto-
lemy. In the Vulgate it is translated, 6 tits sons also of the pre-
varicators of thy people ; in the Septuagint, the sons of the pes-
tilent ones of thy people. What, shall they do? "shall exalt
themselves to establish the vision;" shall revolt from Ptolemy,
and thereby shall contribute greatly, without I heir knowing it,
towards the accomplishment of this prophecy concerning the
calamities which should be brought upon the Jewish nation
by the succeeding kings of Syria. That, the Jews revolted
from Ptolemy is evident from what. Jerome affirms, 7 that the
provinces which before were subject to Egypt rebelled : and
heathen authors intimate, 3 that Antiochus took possession of
the cities of Cade-Syria and Palestine without any opposition,
at least they do not mention any. "But they shall fall ;" for
Seopas 9 came with a powerful army from Ptolemy, and Antio-
chus being engaged in other parts, soon reduced the cities of
Ccele-Svria and Palestine to their former obedience. He sub-
dued the Jews in the winter season, placed a garrison in the
ea-tle of Jerusalem, and returned with great spoils to Alexan-
dria ; for he was 1 noted above all men for his avarice and rapa-
city. The expression of Joseph ns is remarkable,- that the Jews
submitted to Scopas by force, but to Antiochus they submitted
willingly.
It. was in the absence of Antiochus, that these advantages
were obtained by the arms of